The 2018 NCRI Cancer Conference recently wrapped up in Glasgow, Scotland. One of the most disheartening research results reported is the fact that the rate of men dying from melanoma has risen around the world. So, you might ask, isn’t the rate of melanoma death rates rising anyway? Well, in some countries the death rates are steady or even falling for women.
The research focused on 33 countries that has the most reliable data on deaths between 1985 and 2015 (the original data came from the World Health Organization). They pulled out the rates for those who died from malignant melanoma and then compared the rates for men and women.
The trend that they found in the data shows that melanoma death rates in men were rising in all but one country. Whatever The Czech Republic is doing, there needs to be a lot more of that because the study showed that not only did the rate of melanoma deaths decrease annually 0.7% for men between 1985 and 2015, the decrease for women was 15.5% .
But the alarming trend shows that in every single country studied, the death rate from melanoma was higher for men than women. In fact, the 3-year period between 2013 and 2015 showed that Australia had the highest average death rate – 5.72 per 100,000 men and 2.53 per 100,000 women. (I happen to be very fond of most of the Aussies I know – heck, even some I don’t know – so please let’s figure out a way to reverse that trend.) Japan had the lowest rates out of any country studied.
Dr. Dorothy Yang, from the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, UK presented the research at the conference. She stated, “More research will be needed to explore the factors underlying these trends. There is evidence that suggests men are less likely to protect themselves from the sun or engage with melanoma awareness and prevention campaigns. There is also ongoing work looking for any biological factors underlying the difference in mortality rates between men and women.”
I’m hoping that the anti-tanning bed and “wear sunscreen every day so you don’t get wrinkly” message has gotten through to women and has changed behaviors that result in fewer melanoma deaths. But men, look, I know most of y’all don’t stop to think about sunscreen. I suppose there’s some pop culture messages that say men are supposed to be rugged and not care about wrinkles or sun spots. But the bigger picture shows that men are dying from melanoma at rates higher than women. Maybe it’s time to reconsider and realize that sun smart behaviors are for everyone’s benefit – men and women.