BMJ  2005;331 (3 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7515.0

More melanomas are caught early in the US

In the United States, the incidence of melanoma more than doubled between 1986 and 2001 in people aged 65 and older, but this was probably caused by increased diagnostic scrutiny and not an increase in the true occurrence of the disease. A population based ecological study in nine geographical areas of the US by Welch and colleagues (p 481) found a 2.5-fold increase in the average biopsy rate and a 2.4-fold increase in the average incidence of melanoma. The extra cases were mostly in early stages of the disease, and the mortality from melanoma remained stable.

Credit: P MARAZZI/SPL


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Relevant Article

Skin biopsy rates and incidence of melanoma: population based ecological study
H Gilbert Welch, Steven Woloshin, and Lisa M Schwartz
BMJ 2005 331: 481. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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