Incidence of and Mortality From Malignant Melanoma by Anatomical Site

Abstract

Incidence rates (or malignant melanoma by sex and anatomical site derived from the National Cancer Registration Scheme of England and Wales and mortality rates from England and Wales (both rates covering the same period) had broadly similar trends with age, even though the two sources of data were affected by different sources of error. The trends with age of incidence and mortality varied substantially with site. Apart from malignant melanoma of the lower limb in females, clearly a special case, melanomas of the scalp and neck, ears, and face had different trends with age, as did those of the trunk and upper limb. The present data dealt only with one period of time, and the relative contribution of generation effects and of stable site differences is not yet known. Other studies showing that the pathologic features and prognosis of malignant melanoma vary with anatomical site and the data reported here emphasize the importance of studying melanoma in relation to its site of origin. The variations in the incidence of malignant melanoma with sex appear reasonably explicable in terms of variations in exposure due to differences in clothing, and there is no present need to postulate a sex difference in the mechanisms by which malignant melanomas are initially produced. Although these data are not well adapted for the study of prognosis, they do confirm the well-known lower mortality of females compared with males with malignant melanoma.