INCIDENCE OF CUTANEOUS CHILDHOOD MELANOMA IN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

The incidence of cutaneous melanoma in children aged 0-14 years was ex amined in Queensland, Australia. Details of notifications were collect ed from the population-based Australian Paediatric Cancer Registry. Be tween 1987 and 1994, the age-adjusted incidence rates of invasive cuta neous melanoma occurring in Queensland children were estimated at 8.5/ million for males and 7.1/million for females. Incidence rates rose st eeply in both sexes with increasing age, from less than 1/million in t he 0-4 age group, to nearly 30/million in the 10-14 age group. To asse ss the uniformity of the anatomical distribution of lesions, relative tumour densities (RTDs) were calculated compared with the body as a wh ole. In both sexes, melanomas were most common on the trunk (RTD > 3), while lower limb lesions were less common (RTD < 0.6) and no melanoma s were reported on the buttocks or external genitalia. Although not st atistically significant, there was a tendency for truncal lesions in m ales to occur on the back, while in females, truncal melanomas were mo re evenly distributed across the chest, back and shoulders. No consist ent relationship between latitude and melanoma incidence was observed, with higher rates reported in the subtropical than the tropical regio ns of Queensland. These ave the first reported incidence rates of cuta neous melanoma in Australian children and are the highest ever reporte d in the world in this age group. Our findings provide baseline data f rom which to monitor changes in the occurrence of cutaneous melanoma i n children. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.