Malignant Melanoma deadlier for minorities

I believe it. From personal experience, I know just how little primary docs know about this disease. They may also weigh the fact that it is rare in dark skinned people and rather than refer a patient do nothing. My skin problems were evident in the 80's but nothing was done 1993. I was fortunate, too many others aren't.

Open Post- Dumb Ox, Basil's Blog,

MIAMI - Melanoma may be more common in whites, but the most serious form of skin cancer is deadlier in blacks and Hispanics because it is more likely to go undetected, researchers report.

Blacks are more than three times as likely as whites to be diagnosed with melanoma after it has reached a late stage, and Hispanics are nearly twice as likely, according to a University of Miami study released Monday.

Late diagnosis of melanoma generally significantly reduces the chances for survival. The survival rate for those with early detection is about 99 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute. With later detection, the survival rate falls to 15 percent to 65 percent, depending on how far the disease has spread.

The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 10,000 people will die from skin cancer this year, nearly 80 percent of them from melanoma.

The study, published in the journal Archives of Dermatology, analyzed 1,690 melanoma cases in Miami-Dade County from 1997 through 2002.
One author of the study, University of Miami dermatologist Robert Kirsner, said researchers did not focus on possible causes for the disparity, but he noted that blacks and Hispanics tend to have less access to medical care.

Also, because the disease is more likely to occur in light-skinned people, many prevention and detection efforts are aimed at them, he said.