title: Melanoma incidence rises for children and adolescents: an epidemiologic review of pediatric melanoma in the United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to determine the influence of age on disease presentation and evaluate the change in pediatric melanoma incidence between 1998 and 2007.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a retrospective review of all children ≤18 years with cutaneous melanoma who were included in the 2007 National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database between 1988 and 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified a total of 1447 patients with cutaneous melanoma. The overall average annual melanoma incidence was 5.4 per 1 million children and adolescents in the U.S., which increased throughout the study period. Most patients (89%) were at least 10 years of age (average age 15 years). Melanoma in situ (21%), thin (<1 mm) lesions (37%), stage I disease (46%), and superficial spreading histology (25%) were common at presentation. Only 1% of patients presented with distant metastases. Preadolescents younger than age 10 were ethnically more diverse and more likely to present with non-truncal primaries and advanced disease (P<.01) compared to adolescents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The incidence of pediatric melanoma in the U.S. is increasing. There are significant differences between children and adolescents which suggest age-based inherent differences in the biology of the disease may exist.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Children's Cancer Hospital, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA; Department of Pediatric Surgery, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA. Electronic address: Maustin@mdanderson.org.
authors.forename: Mary T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Austin
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Andrea A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Hayes-Jordan
authors.forename: Kevin P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Lally
authors.forename: Janice N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Cormier
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008545:Melanoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D009017:Morbidity / Q000639:trends; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018426:SEER Program; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Age-based differences; Incidence; Pediatric melanoma