The population-based study, published Monday in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, analyzed data from 2011 to 2017 for patients with cutaneous melanoma in all provinces and territories except Quebec. The researchers also looked at mortality trends over a seven-year period and compared them with previous data from 1992 to 2010. The data showed that of the 39,610 patients diagnosed with this type of melanoma, 5,890 died. Women accounted for almost 46 percent of cases and just over 37 percent of deaths. In particular, the researchers found that mortality is also declining from 2013. The analysis also found that Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia had the highest rates of skin melanoma in the country, even when other factors such as age were taken into account. Rates in the prairie provinces and in the northernmost parts of the country were lower than the Canadian average. “The most important thing is that melanoma affects different areas in different ways,” said Dr. Ivan Litvinov, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at McGill University, told CTVNews.ca by telephone on Monday. “The entire corridor from Windsor to Montreal – both southwestern Ontario, hiking to Ottawa, and especially the areas around Muskoka Lakes have higher levels of melanoma. And we see the same for all of Nova Scotia and the PEI and some coastal communities in New Brunswick. And it’s really impressive compared to Northern Ontario and Newfoundland or other parts of Canada. “ The coastal communities around the southeast BC. they also have a spike.
WHERE DOES SKIN CANCER APPEAR?
Melanoma is more common than all other cancers combined, according to Litvinov, noting that there are 80,000 skin cancer diagnoses a year in Canada, of which 8,000 are melanoma. “It really goes up and goes up and goes up. “The incidence of melanoma is really high … In other words, every hour and six minutes, someone is diagnosed with melanoma,” he said. He and his colleagues found that in the early 2000s there were about 12 cases per 100,000 per year. Now, the national average is 20.75 cases per 100,000. Along with these numbers, the study also found that melanoma affects men and women differently, as it occurs more often on the torso and head for men. In women, the feet are the main point where the melanoma strikes, followed by the hands. All subtypes of melanoma are common in men, but researchers have found that extreme lens melanoma is more common in women and mainly affects the arms and legs. Litvinov believed that this could be the result of practices in the nail salon and the use of acrylic nail treatment with ultraviolet radiation.
LOWEST DEATH RATE IN CANADA
Skin melanoma causes more deaths than any other skin cancer, the study found, accounting for 1.9 percent of all cancer deaths in men and 1.2 percent of all cancer deaths in women. Worldwide, there are an estimated 290,000 new cases of skin melanoma in 2018, with Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany having the highest number of cases per capita. Between 2008 and 2018, experts saw a 44 percent increase in this type of melanoma worldwide, along with a 32 percent increase in mortality. In Canada, the study found that while there were more diagnoses, the mortality rate has actually been declining since 2013. “It’s a great success story,” Litvinow said. As with other rich countries, he noted that effective treatments such as immunotherapy and other targeted melanoma treatments are becoming increasingly available, with Canada among the top. “Overall mortality may be increasing because the incidence is increasing, but per capita mortality is starting to decline because we now have treatments that provide up to 50 percent survival in patients with advanced melanoma.” Previously, advanced melanoma was a death sentence. “But now we can turn it into a chronic disease like diabetes or heart failure.” The unavailability of information from Quebec was a significant limitation for this study, the authors note. In addition, other possible limitations included some missing elements and the risk of incorrect patient classification. The unavailability of some information also limited the ability of researchers to consider other factors such as socioeconomic and ethnic considerations that could also play a role. “It is important to note that as Canada’s health care system is a single standard, funded and operated by provincial governments, data is being collected consistently, with each provincial and regional cancer registry identifying tumors in its population by combining multiple source information.” , the study noted.
INCREASING DRIVING BEHAVIOR
Previous research has suggested that ozone depletion as a result of climate change may be a factor in increasing the diagnosis of melanoma. The researchers said that while this relationship has been established for decades, many other factors “interact with the environment to determine the ultimate risk for this deadly disease”. Litvinov proposes cheaper travel to sunny destinations, a longer life expectancy that gives people more time under the sun and more time to develop cancer, among other factors that contribute to the growth of skin cancer. “Overall, we know the sun is addictive … We know that when people are exposed to the sun, there is a natural release of endorphins and people looking for the sun are really addicted to it,” he said, adding that there are also evolutionary factors that play in our love for the sun. “In today ‘s world, this really translates into a greater number of skin cancers, melanoma, photoaging, skin wrinkles. We really want people to go out and enjoy the countryside to the fullest. Just do not tan. ”
