The increasing incidence of melanoma.

A study of our hospital records has confirmed a striking increase in the number of melanoma cases. An examination of the New York State statistics demonstrates a 202 percent increase in the case rate from 1950 to 1971. The Connecticut statistics extending from 1935 to 1972 show an age-adjusted incidence rate increase of more than 300 percent for men, and more than 600 percent for women. An increased frequency of melanoma has been reported also for Texas, Canada, Australia, England and Wales. The available information on melanoma deaths and mortality rates fails to suggest that these lesions are biologically less significant than those so designated in the past. There has been no change in preferential sites of melanoma location in either sex, despite the increased incidence of the disease reported from these many geographic areas. The cause of the increased incidence remains obscure.