Abstract
BackgroundThe incidence and survival of melanoma are increasing, but little is known about its long-term health effects in adult survivors.MethodsA health survey was available from 996 melanoma survivors (577 treated with surgery alone, and 391 with combined treatments). Their medical/physiologic and psychosocial responses were analyzed and compared with those of the survivors from other cancers.ResultsThe melanoma survivors were 44.8 ± 12.8 years of age at diagnosis (significantly younger than the survivors of other cancers) and 63.7 ± 12.8 years at survey. Melanoma survivors were less likely to report that cancer had affected their health than survivors of other cancers (15.8% vs. 34.9%). The 577 individuals treated with surgery alone reported arthritis/osteoporosis, cataracts, and heart problems most frequently (less often than survivors of other cancers). The 391 individuals who had undergone combined treatments reported circulation problems and kidney problems generally as often as survivors of other cancers. Health problems were not associated with number of decades since diagnosis but with age at diagnosis, treatment modality, and family relationships.ConclusionWe present information from a large cohort of long-term survivors of melanoma. As a group, they were less likely to report that cancer had affected their overall health than survivors of other cancers; a number of disease related and psychosocial factors appear to influence their health profiles.
Highlights
The incidence and survival of melanoma are increasing, but little is known about its long-term health effects in adult survivors
Because our focus was adult survivors of cancer, we excluded the 387 surveys from survivors who had been diagnosed with cancer before the age of 18 years
We narrowed the population to 8559 cancer survivors; of these, 996 (11.6%) had been previously diagnosed with melanoma
Summary
The incidence and survival of melanoma are increasing, but little is known about its long-term health effects in adult survivors. The proportion of the population who consider themselves cancer survivors has grown in recent years and will continue to increase, partly because of improvements in early detection, treatment, and supportive care. At least 14% of these cancer survivors were diagnosed more than 20 years ago. There is a cancer survivor in one (page number not for citation purposes). As more people survive cancer, more attention is being given to understanding the long-term effects of cancer and cancer therapy on the health of cancer survivors. Research on cancer survivorship in adults has been generally limited to conventional treatment options and their side effects rather than the long-term outcome of survivors
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