The Rapid Rise in Cutaneous Melanoma Diagnoses
The incidence of melanoma of the skin is 6 times as high as it was 40 years ago; mortality has stayed low. UV light exposure is the strongest environmental risk factor, but its magnitude gives a relative risk of about 2. The most likely factors influencing the increase are changing thresholds to biopsy pigmented lesions and to label the morphologic change as melanoma.