Cohort analysis of malignant melanoma in five countries.

Vital statistics data on mortality from malignant melanoma from five countries are simultaneously fit by the method of cohort analysis. After the effects of geographic and temporal trends are removed, the proportion of deaths occurring in the younger age groups is found to be higher in females than in males. Relative increases in mortality rates by birth cohort are approximately equal in different regions and appear to be slowing down in recent years.