Racial Disparities in Patients with Melanoma: A Multivariate Survival Analysis

Abstract

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.

Confidence of Irish dermatologists in caring for patients with skin of colour

“…2 This discrepancy in confidence between skin types is important as patients with more darkly pigmented skin are more likely to have negative outcomes from dermatological disease, including melanoma. 3 It has recently been shown that white skin is over-represented in images of COVID-19associated eruptions. 4 With growing awareness of racial equity in medicine, 5 efforts are being made to increase the availability of clinical images highlighting the appearance of dermatoses in SOC.…”

An analysis of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels in advanced stage IV melanoma of the skin: prognostic capabilities and demographic variability

“…Taking these limitations into consideration may at least partly explain the differences between the presented conclusions in this study and the ndings of other studies related to the relationship between race and mortality and between sLDH and mortality. [53,54] Conclusions This review of 334 stage IV melanoma patients revealed that elevated levels of sLDH, from as low as normal to 1.5 times ULN, are signi cantly associated with increased risk of mortality. Furthermore, Black patients and patients with lower incomes were found to have greater sLDH levels, so despite the insigni cant difference in risk of mortality by race and income, further research is needed to assess the contribution of elevated sLDH levels in these populations to risk of mortality.…”

Teledermoscopy – An Emerging Technology for Skin Cancer Detection

“…The literature suggests minority patients experience delayed diagnosis and poorer outcomes compared to their Caucasian counterparts for a variety of dermatologic conditions, including melanoma. [55][56][57][58] A concerted effort must be put forth to avoid perpetuating these disparities in the development of AI software for utilization in teledermoscopic evaluation. 59 Recent studies have commented on the image collections used to train AI software, pointing out a distinct paucity in reference images containing darker skin tones.…”