News Release

State, regional differences in melanoma rates 2003 vs 2013

Peer-Reviewed Publication

JAMA Network

A new research letter published online by JAMA Dermatology compares melanoma death and incidence by states and in four geographic regions.

Melanoma death and incidence rates vary among states, partly because of demographic differences.

Robert P. Dellavalle, M.D., Ph.D., M.S.P.H., of the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, and coauthors used a publicly available database to analyze melanoma death and incidence rates by state and geographic region. Researchers report:

    * 23 of 48 states (with data for 2003 and 2013) had a decrease in melanoma death rates; four states had no change and 21 states saw an increase.

* 11 of the 49 states with reported melanoma incidence rates saw a decrease and 38 states had an increase.

"Promoting greater awareness of skin cancer through public health programs has been associated with increased documentation and incidence rates. Lower death rates may further indicate that better treatment may be prolonging the life of patients with melanoma. Further research into the prevalence of melanoma in these four geographic regions is needed," the article concludes.

(JAMA Dermatology. Published online December 28, 2016. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2016.4625; available pre-embargo at the For The Media website.)

Editor's Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

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Also available in JAMA Dermatology: The research letter, "Indoor Tanning and Skin Cancer Risk Among Diverse U.S. Youth: Results From a National Sample," by Aaron J. Blashill, Ph.D., of San Diego State University, also is available on the For The Media website.

To place an electronic embedded link in your story: Links will be live at the embargo time: http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/fullarticle/10.1001/jamadermatol.2016.4625


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