Striking Increase of Thin Melanomas Contrasts With Stable Incidence of Thick Melanomas

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Abstract
MELANOMA incidence is increasing worldwide between 3% and 7% per year in populations of European origin.1-9 Metastatic melanomas usually lead to death, whereas many persons with a thin stage I lesion can be cured.10,11 In most Western countries, this has encouraged prevention and early detection.12-19 Detection is primarily aimed at the early diagnosis of thin melanomas,12,13 which is consistent with a common histopathologic entity, namely, the radial growth phase on the skin surface of the most common histologic type, the superficial spreading melanoma.12,20,21 Efficient screening for melanoma requires precise epidemiological data. Very few data are known for France.9 To address this question and to see how France compares with other Western countries, we studied the melanoma incidence in the department of the Bas-Rhin, France, and we evaluated the evolution of the Breslow index since 1980 in a cutaneous histopathology department in which all cases of melanoma were confirmed by 2 dermatopathologists (E.M.G. and B.J.C.).