Increasing incidence of melanoma in central Greece: a retrospective epidemiological study

The increasing incidence of melanoma in the general population during the last few decades has provoked a great deal of research, aiming to identify the possible relationship between old and new etiological factors involved in the pathogenesis of this tumor. The aim of the study was to evaluate the incidence of melanoma in central Greece, especially in the prefecture of Larissa from January 1988 to December 1998. Data were collected from the General Hospital of Larissa. Seventy-one cases of melanoma were studied (41 females, 30 males). The incidence increased from 1.36/100,000 patients during the first year of the study (1988) to 5.2/100,000 patients in the last year of the study (1998). The patients'skin types were: type 12.8%, type II 52.1%, type III 45.1%. The median age of patients was 61.9 years, 61.4 years in female and 62.5 years in male patients. Concerning their occupation, farmers accounted for 56.3%. Melanomas were most frequently located on head and neck (36.6%), extremities (30.98%) and trunk (11.3%). Superficial spreading melanomas were observed in 44% of the patients and nodular melanomas in 20%. In conclusion. there was a rapid increase in the incidence of melanoma in our region especially during the last 3 years.