Epidemiological data on melanoma from the referral centre in croatia (2002-2007)

Melanoma is considered to be one of the most aggressive skin tumors. Various studies have shown that the incidence rate for this malignancy is rising rapidly all over the world. Incidence rates vary substantially worldwide with New Zealand and Australia having the highest rates. In the past 40 years in Croatia the incidence of melanoma is also in rise for more than 300%. Women and men are almost equally affected. According to anatomical site in most populations the rise is the greatest for the male trunk, and extremities in both sexes. There has been little change in rates for the head and neck. In the last decades, melanoma often occurs in relatively younger people, between the age of 25 and 40, rarely in the childhood. However, survival in patients with melanoma in Western European countries has increased markedly in recent years, due to timely recognition of the disease. Unfortunately, in Croatia the mortality remains higher even though the incidence is lower than those in some Western European countries. The authors are presenting epidemiological data on melanoma during the last 6 years (for the period 2002-2007) from the Croatian Referral Centre for Melanoma which is placed in the University Hospital "Sestre milosrdnice" in Zagreb.