Incidence, mortality and survival trends of cutaneous melanoma in Umbria, Italy. 1978-82 and 1994-98

Many studies have reported increasing incidence rates of cutaneous melanoma during the last 30-40 years; the highest have been observed in Australia and New Zealand (27.9/100,000 among males and 25.0 among females) and in North America (10.9/100,000 among males and 7.7 among females). In Italy, from 1994-1998, in the areas covered by cancer registries (23% of Italian population), the incidence rate for males was 8.5 and for females, 1.9/100,000. The aim of the present study was to describe incidence, mortality and survival from cutaneous melanoma in the Umbrian population during the periods 1978-1982 and 1994-1998.