Epidemiology of primary cutaneous malignant melanoma in Jordan

Primary cutaneous malignant melanoma is an uncommon tumor in Jordan compared with other countries. There are no previous comprehensive Jordanian studies on this tumor and proper statistical data on morbidity and incidence are nonexistent. The purpose of this paper was to study the epidemiologic aspects of cutaneous malignant melanoma among Jordanians.

Both the clinical and the histopathologic feature of 138 melanoma patients (86 men, median age 56; 52 women, median age 53) seen during the period November 1969-May 1994 were studied. The analysed data included age, sex, skin type, race, socioeconomic status, exposure to sunlight, trauma, and family history.

Malignant melanoma was found to be more common in men than women, in the ratio of approximately 2:1, due to the higher exposure of men to sunlight, and occurred more in people with skin types I, II, and III, and less in people with skin types IV and V. The majority of cases were of the superficial spreading variety, followed by the nodular, lentigo maligna, and acrolentiginous melanomas, respectively.

The incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma, formerly considered a rare tumor in Jordan, is now recognized to be on the increase. Exposure to sunlight seems to be the most prominent risk factor in the development of this tumor among Jordanians.