A Snapshot of Melanoma

Incidence and Mortality

Melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, is the fifth most common type of new cancer diagnosis in American men and the sixth most common type in American women. The incidence and mortality rates for invasive melanoma are highest in whites, who are about ten times more likely to develop melanoma than African Americans. Men aged 40 or older are almost twice as likely to develop melanoma as women in the same age group. The annual incidence of melanoma among whites has increased steadily, with an increase greater than 60 percent over the past 30 years. Increases have been most rapid among white women aged 15 to 39 years, in whom incidence has increased by 3 percent annually since 1992, and among white men older than 65, in whom incidence has increased by 5.1 percent annually since 1975.

Risk factors for melanoma include having fair skin that burns easily, high lifetime exposure to natural or artificial sunlight, a history of blistering sunburns, having a dysplastic nevus or many common moles, and a family history of melanoma. Avoiding sun exposure and using sunscreen may reduce the risk of melanoma. Visual skin examinations are sometimes used to screen for skin cancer. Standard treatments for melanoma include surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and biological therapy

Approximately $2.4 billion¹ is spent in the United States each year on melanoma treatment.

Trends in NCI Funding for Melanoma Research

The National Cancer Institute's (NCI) investment² in melanoma research increased from $97.7 million in fiscal year (FY) 2007 to $115.6 million in FY 2011. In addition to this funding, NCI supported $25.2 million in melanoma research in FY 2009 and 2010 using funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)³.

Examples of NCI Activities Relevant to Melanoma

• Health professionals can use the Melanoma Risk Assessment Tool to identify individuals at increased risk of melanoma in order to plan appropriate screening interventions.
• NCI supports early-phase clinical trials of targeted, personalized cancer regimens through the Accelerating Clinical Trials of Novel Oncologic PathWays (ACTNOW) program, including a phase II trial for melanoma patients with specific tumor gene mutations.
• The Clinical, Laboratory, and Epidemiologic Characterization of Individuals and Families at High Risk of Melanoma study explores how genetic and environmental factors contribute to melanoma development.
• The Cancer Immunotherapy Trials Network conducts multicenter clinical trials of promising new agents that boost patients' own immune systems to fight melanoma and other cancers.
• The Genes, Environment and Melanoma (GEM) Consortium and Melanoma Genetics Consortium (GenoMEL) explore how sun exposure and genetic factors contribute to the development and progression of melanoma and the genetics of familial melanoma, respectively.
• Four skin-cancer-specific Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPOREs) are identifying risk factors for melanoma, developing models that can be used to guide treatment, assessing the effectiveness of novel therapies, and developing new treatments.

Selected Advances in Melanoma Research

• In a phase II clinical trial, some patients with melanoma harboring KIT gene mutations showed clinical responses to the targeted drug imatinib mesylate. Published June 2011. [PubMed Abstract]
• An analysis of alterations in G protein-coupled receptors revealed that one such receptor known as GRM3 is frequently mutated in melanoma and that mutant forms of GRM3 promote tumor growth and migration. Published September 2011. [PubMed Abstract]
• Researchers uncovered a mechanism by which melanoma cells become resistant to the targeted therapy vemurafenib. Published November 2011. [PubMed Abstract]
• In a large multi-ethnic cohort, non-whites/multiracials (excluding African Americans) had the same risk factors for malignant melanoma as did whites—age, male sex, and susceptibility to sunburn. Published January 2012. [PubMed Abstract]
• See this PubMed list of selected free full-text journal articles on NCI-supported research relevant to melanoma. You can also search PubMed for additional scientific articles.