Tumour stage distribution and survival of malignant melanoma in Germany 2002–2011
Creators: name: Schoffer, Olaf
name: Schülein, Stefanie
name: Arand, Gerlinde
name: Arnholdt, Hans
name: Baaske, Dieter
name: Bargou, Ralf C.
name: Becker, Nikolaus
name: Beckmann, Matthias W.
name: Bodack, Yves
name: Böhme, Beatrix
name: Bozkurt, Tayfun
name: Breitsprecher, Regine
name: Buchali, Andre
name: Burger, Elke
name: Burger, Ulrike
name: Dommisch, Klaus
name: Elsner, Gudrun
name: Fernschild, Karin
name: Flintzer, Ulrike
name: Funke, Uwe
name: Gerken, Michael
name: Göbel, Hubert
name: Grobe, Norbert
name: Gumpp, Vera
name: Heinzerling, Lucie
name: Kempfer, Lana Raffaela
name: Kiani, Alexander
name: Klinkhammer-Schalke, Monika
name: Klöcking, Sabine
name: Kreibich, Ute
name: Knabner, Katrin
name: Kuhn, Peter
name: Lutze, Stine
name: Mäder, Uwe
name: Maisel, Tanja
name: Maschke, Jan
name: Middeke, Martin
name: Neubauer, Andreas
name: Niedostatek, Antje
name: Opazo-Saez, Anabelle
name: Peters, Christoph
name: Schell, Beatrice
name: Schenkirsch, Gerhard
name: Schmalenberg, Harald
name: Schmidt, Peter
name: Schneider, Constanze
name: Schubotz, Birgit
name: Seide, Anika
name: Strecker, Paul
name: Taubenheim, Sabine
name: Wackes, Matthias
name: Weiß, Steffen
name: Welke, Claudia
name: Werner, Carmen
name: Wittekind, Christian
name: Wulff, Jörg
name: Zettl, Heike
name: Klug, Stefanie J.
Publisher: name: Universität Regensburg
Year: 2016
Subjects: subject: CUTANEOUS MELANOMA; CANCER SURVIVAL; UNITED-STATES; TRENDS; GENDER; SKIN; 21ST-CENTURY; THICKNESS; EUROPE; AGE; Malignant melanoma; TNM staging; Survival analysis; Skin cancer screening; Stage distribution
subject: 610 Medizin

description: Background: Over the past two decades, there has been a rising trend in malignant melanoma incidence worldwide. In 2008, Germany introduced a nationwide skin cancer screening program starting at age 35. The aims of this study were to analyse the distribution of malignant melanoma tumour stages over time, as well as demographic and regional differences in stage distribution and survival of melanoma patients. Methods: Pooled data from 61 895 malignant melanoma patients diagnosed between 2002 and 2011 and documented in 28 German population-based and hospital-based clinical cancer registries were analysed using descriptive methods, joinpoint regression, logistic regression and relative survival. Results: The number of annually documented cases increased by 53.2% between 2002 (N = 4 779) and 2011 (N = 7 320). There was a statistically significant continuous positive trend in the proportion of stage UICC I cases diagnosed between 2002 and 2011, compared to a negative trend for stage UICC II. No trends were found for stages UICC III and IV respectively. Age (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.97-0.97), sex (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.11-1.25), date of diagnosis (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.04-1.06), 'diagnosis during screening' (OR 3.24, 95% CI 2.50-4.19) and place of residence (OR 1.23, 95% CI 1.16-1.30) had a statistically significant influence on the tumour stage at diagnosis. The overall 5-year relative survival for invasive cases was 83.4% (95% CI 82.8-83.9%). Conclusions: No distinct changes in the distribution of malignant melanoma tumour stages among those aged 35 and older were seen that could be directly attributed to the introduction of skin cancer screening in 2008.