However, the incidence has doubled in the United States in the last 20 years. It is the leading cause of death from skin disease. Approximately 35,000 cases of malignant melanoma occurred in the United States in 1990, making it one of the most common forms of cancer that year. Melanoma is the number one cancer in young women under age 35. It can affect any age, with a recent trend toward discovery of the tumor at increasingly younger ages.
Men have a higher rate of death from malignant melanoma than women.
Deaths from complications of malignant melanoma are increasing at a faster rate than deaths from any other form of cancer except lung cancer . Malignant melanoma involves cancerous changes to the skin cells that produce the skin's pigment, melanin . Rarely, congenital birthmarks such as blue nevi and giant nevi may develop melanomas. The tumor may develop quickly and initially spreads to adjacent skin. It is highly curable in this phase.