Melanoma Education is Key to Saving Lives

Source: Cure Today, December 2019

The incidence of melanoma has increased to the head and neck by more than 50% in children, adolescents and young adults over the past nearly 20 years. However, melanoma rates for this same age group are falling overall.

These findings are according to two recent studies — one conducted by researchers at St. Louis University and the other from researchers at the University of Washington.
In the first study, researchers examined populations in the United States and Canada who had received a head and neck melanoma diagnosis between 1995 and 2014. The more than 12,000 patients included in the study ranged in age from infant to 39 years old.

They found that melanoma to those body parts increased by 51.1%. Most cases (54.6%) occurred in males and 91% of cases were from the U.S. In both countries, the skin of the neck and scalp was the area where most head and neck melanoma were diagnosed. These sites are linked to worse prognosis, explained the researchers.