Abstract
Simple SummaryThe incidence of invasive cutaneous melanoma (CM) is increasing in Sweden. The aim was to present age- and sex-specific trends of the age-standardised incidence and the average annual percentage change (AAPC) for in situ and invasive CM by analysing data obtained from the Swedish Melanoma Register and the Swedish Cancer registry for 35,350 in situ tumours and 59,932 CM. Trend shifts in age-specific incidence for in situ and invasive CM reflect a rise among both sexes since the 2000s and could be a result of more effective secondary prevention efforts and a higher awareness of CM.Background: The incidence of invasive cutaneous melanoma (CM) is increasing in Sweden. The aim was to present age- and sex-specific trends of the age-standardised incidence and the average annual percentage change (AAPC) for in situ and invasive CM. Methods: Joinpoint regression models were used to analyse data from the Swedish Cancer Register and the Swedish Melanoma Registry 1997–2018 (N = 35,350 in situ CM; 59,932 CM). Results: The AAPC of CM for women was 4.5 (4.1–5.0; p < 0.001) for the period 1997–2018. For men, the APCC was 4.2 (3.0–5.4; p < 0.001), with a significantly higher annual percentage change (APC) for the period 2000–2018 (5.0; 4.6–5.4; p < 0.001) compared to 1997–1999. An increasing annual incidence of CM ≤ 0.6 mm and 0.7 mm Breslow tumour thickness was found for men with a significant incidence shift for the period 2006–2015, respectively. Similarly for women, with a significantly higher APC for CM ≤ 0.6 mm from 2005. The incidence of intermediate thick CM (2.1–4.0 mm) has not increased since 2011. The incidence of CM > 4.0 mm has been increasing among both sexes, with a significantly lower APC among women from 2005. Conclusions: The incidence of in situ and low-risk CM ≤ 1.0 mm in tumour thickness has been rising among both sexes since the 2000s.
Highlights
The incidence of invasive cutaneous melanoma (CM) is increasing in Sweden as in the majority of the Western countries with fair-skinned populations, e.g., North America, Northern Europe, Australia and New Zealand [1,2]
By using the population-based, high-coverage SweMR, we have pointed out specific age- and sex-specific trends in CM incidence in the Swedish population which may contribute to the implementation of new CM prevention strategies
We show that the annual age-standardised incidence of both in situ and invasive CM continues to increase among both men and women in Sweden, which is in line with the incidence trends in almost all Caucasian populations world-wide [1,2,5,22,23]
Summary
The incidence of invasive cutaneous melanoma (CM) is increasing in Sweden as in the majority of the Western countries with fair-skinned populations, e.g., North America, Northern Europe, Australia and New Zealand [1,2]. In Australia, the age-standardised incidence rates in 2018 were 40.4/100,000 cases per year for men and 27.5/100,000 cases per year for women [1]. Norway and Denmark are the countries with the highest incidence for women in Europe, ranging from 26.2 to 33.1/100,000 per year; these rates are in the same order of magnitude as those for women in Australia and New Zealand. The CM incidence is increasing in the US population, with an age-standardised incidence rate of 14.9/100,000 per year for men and 11.0/100,000 per year for women [1]. Conclusions: The incidence of in situ and low-risk CM ≤ 1.0 mm in tumour thickness has been rising among both sexes since the 2000s
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