The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of @entity320 on public health in Belgium. @entity320 incidence and mortality rates were analysed relative to those of other @entity5 . These @entity5 were then evaluated for premature morbidity and mortality by studying age-specific incidence rates, years of potential life lost before 65, and years of potential life lost per @entity204 . @entity320 accounts for 1.23% of all incident @entity5 cases and 0.7% of all @entity5 deaths in Belgium. It is the seventeenth most common @entity5 in @entity1 and the sixteenth most common @entity5 in @entity1 . Compared with other, more frequent @entity5 , @entity320 seems to affect @entity1 at a younger age; in the 20-39 age group @entity320 is the third most common @entity5 in both sexes. It is the second most important @entity5 in terms of years of potential life lost per @entity204 , preceded only by @entity5 of the central nervous system. These findings show that @entity320 incidence and mortality rates are exceeded by many other @entity5 . Nevertheless, @entity320 poses an important health problem because of its predilection for young and middle-aged @entity1 . We suspect that these observations are not specific for Belgium and will also apply to other European countries.

The XXXX burden in Belgium; premature morbidity and mortality make @entity320 a considerable health problem.

@entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['cancers', 'cancer', 'tumours'] @entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['women', 'patients', 'people', 'men'] @entity204 :: ('MESH:D003643', 'Disease') :: ['death'] @entity320 :: ('MESH:D008545', 'Disease') :: ['melanoma', 'Melanoma']
@entity320 :: (MESH:D008545,Disease) :: ['melanoma']
