Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. While the number of cases diagnosed is on the rise, the overall survival rate has improved, but survival is uneven across the country, according to a recent study.
Researchers at University of Utah Health conducted a state-by-state analysis to understand the geographic disparities for patients diagnosed with melanoma. The results of their study suggest that lower survival is associated with more practicing physicians in a region and higher population of Caucasians. The results were published recently in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
States with Fewer Melanoma Diagnoses May Have Higher Death Rates
These studies may be part of the problem, not the solution. Melanoma scares could be causing more deaths by preventing access to sunlight. THAT’S the study you want to be doing. See Rangan Chatterjee,MD and Sharad Paul, MD.