Incidence of cutaneous melanoma among non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics, Asians, and Blacks: an analysis of California Cancer Registry data, 1988-93

Cutaneous malignant melanoma occurs less frequently among non-Whitepopulations than among Whites. As a result, little is known about theincidence and epidemiology of melanoma among other race/ethnicity groups.Data from the California Cancer Registry (United States) among 879 Hispanic,126 Asian, and 85 Black men and women diagnosed with melanoma in 1988-93 wereanalyzed and compared with data for 17,765 non-Hispanic White cases. Average,annual, age-adjusted incidence rates per 100,000 population were 17.2 for men(M) and 11.3 for women (W) for non-Hispanic Whites; 2.8 (M), 3.0 (W) forHispanics; 0.9 (M), 0.8 (W) for Asians; and 1.0 (M), 0.7 (W) for non-HispanicBlacks. Among men, melanoma occurred on the lower extremity for 20 percent ofHispanics, 36 percent of Asians, and 50 percent of Blacks compared with ninepercent of non-Hispanic Whites, with similar but less pronounced differencesin site distribution by race/ethnicity for women. Among men, melanoma wasdiagnosed after it had metastasized to a remote site for 15 percent ofHispanics, 13 percent of Asians, and 12 percent of Blacks, compared with sixpercent of non-Hispanic Whites. Among women, seven percent of Hispanics, 21percent of Asians, and 19 percent of Blacks were diagnosed with late-stagemelanoma compared with four percent of non-Hispanic Whites. Althoughhistologic type was not specified for nearly half of the cases, Hispanic,Asian, and Black patients were more likely than non-Hispanic White patientsto have been diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma. MelanomaamongHispanics, Asians, and Blacks differs in incidence, site distribution,stage at diagnosis, andhistologic type from melanoma among non-HispanicWhites, and identification of risk factors for melanoma in theserace/ethnicity groups would elucidate further the role of sun and otherfactors in the etiology of melanoma.