Black men are at higher risk of death from melanoma than other racial groups, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD).
In 205,125 cases of male patients diagnosed with cutaneous invasive melanoma between 2004 and 2018 tracked by the National Cancer Database, the five-year survival rate was the lowest for black men at 51.7%. The survival rate was the highest for white men, at 75.1%, compared to the other racial groups in the study.
White men are more likely to develop melanoma, According to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventionthe study found that black people have a 26% higher risk of death from melanoma than the white population.
Cutaneous melanoma, a form of cancer that begins in pigment-producing cells, is the most aggressive and deadliest form of skin cancer, according to the National Library of Medicine.
Although gender and race are predictors of survival in people diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma, less is known about the role of race specifically among men; that’s what the study explored.
Although it’s not clear what factors contribute to a higher mortality risk for black men with melanoma, the study found that black men were less likely to have private insurance and, overall, men were less likely to seek medical care than men. women, which can result in men being diagnosed at a later stage, according to Ashley Wysong, chair of the department of dermatology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a co-author of the study.
«Even after accounting for later stages at diagnosis, men still have worse overall survival rates than women with melanoma, so we suspect that some social, genetic, tumor-specific, and potentially biological factors are not measures at play, such as hormones and how the immune system responds to melanoma tumors,” Wysong said.
Melanoma patients with darker skin often mistake their cancer for other skin conditions, which «can also delay definitive care and treatment,» he added.
Racial disparities have put black patients at a disadvantage for years, with racial bias a major factor. TO study 2019 published in Science found evidence that racial bias in an algorithm used by health care providers affects the amount of money spent on black patients and also labels black patients as healthier than equally sick white patients.
The JAAD study also found that melanoma-related disparities also exist among black women, who had the highest percentage of tumors in the lower extremitywhich include legs, ankles and feet.
Wysong recommends that people see a board-certified dermatologist if they notice any skin lesions that are new, bleeding, or won’t heal.
«We hope that our research can lay the foundation for future studies to determine why there is such a gap in survival rates and move forward to reduce these gaps in survival rates,» he said.