INVASIVE CUTANEOUS MELANOMA IN THE NETHERLANDS, 1989-1990

The Breslow or tumour thickness is the most important prognostic facto r for survival from cutaneous melanoma, We studied the occurrence of m elanoma in relation to tumour thickness and subsite in The Netherlands , Data on all newly diagnosed invasive cutaneous melanomas in the Neth erlands Cancer Registry in 1989 and 1990 were used to estimate age and sex-specific incidence rates according to site and depth of tumour in vasion, The incidence among women (9.5 per 100,000 person-years) was r elatively high compared with other European countries, The predominant site was the trunk among men and the leg among women, After age 70, o ne-third of the melanomas were observed in the head and neck region, A ccording to data from PALGA, the national computerized archive of Dutc h pathology laboratories, 37% of the men and 29% of the women had a me lanoma > 1.5 mm thick, Among persons younger than age 60, 26% had a me lanoma > 1.5 mm thick, compared with 44% among those 60 years and over , In both registries the absolute and relative risks for a thicker mel anoma increased with age, particularly for men, In The Netherlands, pr eventive measures for population groups with thicker melanomas should be targeted towards men and elderly persons.