News Just Out:  Melanoma More Deadly in Young Males Than Females

 

This is particularly concerning as we all know that this is the very population that is least likely to 1) recieve regular healthcare, 2) be vigilant about sunscreen use, and 3) recognize and seek treatment for suspicious moles.  Big mistakes. 
 

Researchers have found that the rates of mortality from melanoma are higher in males in their teenage and young adult years than in females of similar ages, according to a study published online today in JAMA Dermatology.

This difference in mortality between the sexes could mean that there is a fundamental biologic difference in male and female melanoma, the authors of an accompanying editorial suggest.

In a population-based cohort study that analyzed data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) network of cancer registries for melanomas diagnosed from January 1, 1989 to December 31, 2009, researchers found that young men were 55% more likely to die of melanoma than age-matched women.

The finding held true despite adjustment for factors typically associated with poor prognosis, such as tumor thickness, histology, location of the melanoma, and the presence and extent of metastasis. They stress, however, that whatever the cause of the disparity in deaths from melanoma, both sexes have better overall survival if the melanomas are diagnosed at an earlier stage.

The authors hope that this data will prompt more primary care physicians of young at-risk men to carefully screen their patients and counsel them to perform monthly skin self-examinations.

  We also hope that we can coax more of our young male acne patients into full-body skin checks at their office visits.   This is an idea they are frequenty resistant to, but they should know that  It doesn't add to the cost of the visit and it could save their lives.