Sex Matters in How, When, and Where Melanomas Develop
Source: Elsevier, September 2024
Melanoma rates differ consistently between men and women in terms of the ages at which melanomas occur and the locations on the body where they occur. Over time, melanoma rates have increased in both men and women, but the trends differ by body site. A new study
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in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology
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, published by Elsevier, presents the findings from a large-scale, long-term melanoma data analysis investigating incidence trends by age, sex, and anatomic site.
Lead investigator David C. Whiteman, MBBS, PhD, Cancer Control Group, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, and Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, explains, “There has been a general observation in numerous populations that melanomas appear to arise at different rates in men and women. We decided to investigate this observation rigorously and assess whether these differences have been constant through time or across generations by using large-scale data from population registries to investigate long-term melanoma trends in men and women.
The research team analyzed more than 40 years of melanoma data from Queensland, Australia, the USA, and Scotland. These three populations were chosen because historically they have had high (Queensland), moderate (USA), and low (Scotland) rates of melanoma. Over time, the rates of melanoma increased in all three populations, especially among women. In women in all populations, melanomas arise most commonly on the limbs, whereas in men, melanomas arise most commonly on the trunk and head and neck. In both sexes, there has been a steady increase in melanomas on the head and neck with increasing age.