Trends in survival from malignant melanoma: remarkable improvement in 23 years.
Trends in incidence of and mortality and survival from malignant melanoma in Sweden for 1960 through 1982 were analyzed. Incidence rates increased annually by 5.4% for females and by 5.8% for males, whereas mortality rates increased annually by 2.7% for females and 3.3% for males. For females, the 5-year relative survival (RS) rates increased by approximately 15 percentage points before 1970. In contrast, males before 1970 had a successive improvement in RS rates of 4.6-8.2 percentage points for each 5-year period of diagnosis. Multivariate analyses revealed that during the study period the malignant melanoma-specific hazard decreased by 71% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 59%-79%] for females and by 64% (95% CI = 54%-73%) for males during the first 5 years of follow-up.
Thörn
M
M
Department of Surgery, University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden.
Adami
H O
HO
Bergström
R
R
Ringborg
U
U
Krusemo
U B
UB
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D013548:Sweden; D013997:Time Factors