What is melanoma cancer?

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that develops in skin cells called melanocytes. Usually melanomas will occur on parts of the body that have been exposed to the sun. However, rare melanomas can start inside the eye or in a part of the skin that has never been exposed to the sun, such as mucous membrane (e.g. sinuses, digestive tract, genitals), soles of the feet, palms of the hand or under nails. Although it is one of the less common types of skin cancer, melanoma is considered the most serious because it is more likely to spread to other parts of the body, especially if not detected early.

You can access further information about melanoma cancer, including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from Cancer Council Victoria. You can also call our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about our range of services for people affected by cancer.

The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web portal, Data Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published here.

How common is melanoma cancer?

In 2024, 3179 Victorians were diagnosed with melanoma. Of these, there were 1852 males and 1327 females, representing 58% and 42% of the total Victorian melanoma diagnoses, respectively. Currently, melanoma is diagnosed at a rate of 47 per 100,000 males and 31 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of melanoma is 65 years in males and 60 in females (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 7.9% of all cancers diagnosed and 2.6% of all cancer-related deaths in 2024, melanoma was the 5th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 11th most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victoria.

Trends in melanoma cancer over time

Figure 3a shows for males between 2005 to 2024 the age standardised incidence rate of melanoma cancer declined by an average of 0.05% per year. However this result was not statistically significant, meaning the change cannot be confidently considered real and may be due to random fluctuations.

For females between 1997 to 2024 the age standardised incidence rate of melanoma cancer declined by an average of 0.37% per year. However this result wasn’t statistically significant, meaning the change cannot be confidently considered real and may be due to random fluctuations.

Melanoma cancer morphology

Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells (morphology) which have caused melanoma cancer among all cases. Most melanoma cancers, 60%, present as superficial cell tumours.

Geographical variance in melanoma cancer by local government area

Figure 5 demonstrates variation in the estimated risk of being diagnosed with melanoma cancer, by local government area, relative to the Victorian average. Red shading indicates areas with higher risk and blue shading indicates areas with lower risk relative to Victoria.

Melanoma cancer in people born overseas

Figure 6 shows the age-standardised incidence rates of melanoma cancer in Australian-born Victorians compared to other major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2019 to 2023. The highest standardised incidence ratio (SIR) for melanoma cancer was 1.0 for males born in the Australia and New Zealand region and the lowest SIR of 0.02 was observed in males born in the Southern and Central Asia region. The highest standardised incidence ratio (SIR) for melanoma cancer was 1.0 for females born in the Australia and New Zealand region and the lowest SIR of 0.03 was observed in females born in the North-East Asia region.

Melanoma cancer distribution by stage at diagnosis

Figure 7 shows distribution of melanoma cancer by stage of disease at diagnosis in 2024. In males, Stage 1 accounted for the largest proportion (70%) of new diagnoses and Stage 4 accounted for the lowest proportion (4%) of new melanoma cancer diagnoses. In females, Stage 1 accounted for the largest proportion (77%) of new diagnoses and Stage 4 accounted for the lowest proportion (2.6%) of new melanoma cancer diagnoses.

Melanoma cancer five-year relative survival

Figure 8 shows the change in 5-year survival for melanoma cancer, and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period. It demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for melanoma cancer between 1985-1989 and 2020-2024 from 85% to 95%.