An Estimate of the Incidence of Malignant Melanoma in the United States: Based on a Survey of Members of the American Academy Of Dermatology

BACKGROUND The incidence of malignant melanoma (MM) in the United States (US) must be known to accurately evaluate the costs that MM imposes on the health care system and society in general. Furthermore, knowledge of the incidence is needed to determine the benefit of MM prevention programs. OBJECTIVE To obtain an estimate of the incidence of MM in the US. METHODS The data for this study were collected by means of a questionnaire that was sent to all members of the American Academy of Dermatology practicing in the US (N = 7412). RESULTS Based on the mean number of MMs seen annually per dermatologist in each state and the number of dermatologists per state, the number of new in situ and invasive MMs in the US in 1992 was calculated to be 80,000. This translates to an incidence of 32 MMs per 100,000 persons. CONCLUSIONS Our estimate of 80,000 new MMs diagnosed in 1992 in the US suggests that MM places much greater burdens on the US health care system and society than that based on current published estimates.