Descriptive Epidemiology of Melanoma Diagnosed between 2010 and 2014 in a Colombian Cancer Registry and a Call for Improving Available Data on Melanoma in Latin America

Simple Summary Melanoma is among the most aggressive types of skin cancer. For Latin American populations, we know very little about its patterns of occurrence and probabilities of survival. In this study, using data of the Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area Cancer Registry, we describe that the incidence rate is about 2 per 100,000 person-years, and that 5 years after diagnosis, 71% did not die of their melanoma. We also described the details of the characteristics and subgroups of survival. These findings help understand this disease better in this population and identified the need for more detailed and timely data in the whole region of Latin America.Abstract We aimed to improve the available information on morphology and stage for cutaneous melanoma in the population-based cancer registry of the Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area in Colombia. The incidence and survival rates and the distribution of melanoma patients by age, gender, anatomical subsite, and histological subtype were calculated. All 113 melanoma patients (median age 61) were followed up (median time 7.4 years). This exercise (filling in missing information in the registry by manual search of patient clinical record and other available information) yielded more identified invasive melanomas and cases with complete information on anatomical localization and stage. Age-standardized incidence and mortality rates were 1.86 and 1.08, being slightly higher for males. Most melanomas were localized on the lower limbs, followed by the trunk. For 35% of all melanomas, the morphological subtype remained unknown. Most of the remaining melanomas were nodular and acral lentiginous melanomas. Overall global and relative 5-year survival was 61.6% and 71.3%, respectively, with poorer survival for males than females. Melanomas on the head and neck and unspecified anatomical sites had the worst survival. Patients without stage information in their medical files had excellent survival, unlike patients for whom medical files were no longer available. This study shows the possibility of improving data availability and the importance of good quality population-based data.