Study Looks at Sex Differences in Melanoma Incidence

TUESDAY, Sept. 17, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Melanoma rates differ for men and women, including in terms of ages of occurrence and locations of melanoma, according to a study published online June 17 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

Catherine M. Olsen, Ph.D., from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues analyzed long-term melanoma data (1982 to 2018) in three populations residing at high-, moderate-, and low-ambient sun exposures. Trends in the male-to-female incidence rate ratio (IRR) were compared by site and sex using age-period-cohort models.

The researchers found that the incidence of melanoma was always highest on the trunk in men, while in women, incidence was historically highest on limbs, but recent increases in truncal melanoma were seen. In all populations, the IRR showed excess melanoma in women on the lower limb in most age groups. In contrast, a male excess of melanoma was seen on the trunk and head/neck (from about age 25 years and from about age 40 years, respectively), which increased with age. Among recent birth cohorts, turning points in incidence from high to low incidence were identified, with differences seen by population and site.

“These analyses of trends in melanoma incidence by body site reveal consistent patterns compatible with changing patterns of sun exposure together with some innate differences in site-specific susceptibility between the sexes,” the authors write.

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