Racial Disparities in Patients with Melanoma: A Multivariate Survival Analysis

PURPOSE: As the most common cause of skin cancer death, incidence and mortality of melanoma vary widely between ethnic and racial groups. METHODS: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data were used to examine the incidence and survival in patients with melanoma concerning race and ethnicity in Wayne County, Michigan between 2000 and 2016. RESULTS: Analysis of data revealed significantly higher melanoma-specific death in non-Hispanic black patients compared to their non-Hispanic white counterparts (p <0.001). However, no increased risk of death due to melanoma was observed following adjustment of data for the stage, age, and sex (H.R. = 1.00, 95% CI 0.64–1.56). CONCLUSION: Non-Hispanic black patients have the highest percentage of late-stage melanoma. Increased incidence of melanoma mortality in non-Hispanic black patients is likely a consequence of late-stage diagnosis.