What is melanoma?
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, 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?
In 2021, 2829 Victorians were diagnosed with melanoma. Of these, there were 1650 males and 1174 females, representing 58.4% and 41.6% of the total Victorian melanoma diagnoses, respectively. There were 5 cases where sex was reported as neither male or female, not known, established or defined. Currently, melanoma is diagnosed at a rate of 28.3 per 100,000 males and 20 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of melanoma is 64 years in males and 59 in females (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 7.7% of all cancers diagnosed and 2.5% of all cancer-related deaths in 2021, melanoma was the 5th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 14th most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victoria.
Trends in melanoma over time
Figure 3 shows that since 1982 incidence of melanoma has increased by an average of 1.5% per year in males and increased by an average of 0.5% per year in females. Over the past 39 years, mortality from melanoma has decreased by 0.4% per year in males and decreased by 1.6% per year in females.
Melanoma morphology
Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells (morphology) which have caused melanoma among all cases. Most melanomas, 59.7%, present as Superficial cell tumours.
Geographical variance in melanoma by local government area
Figure 5 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates of melanoma, by local government areas. Darker shading indicates areas with higher rates of melanoma.
Melanoma in people born overseas
Figure 6 shows the age-standardised incidence rates of melanoma in Australian-born Victorians compared to other major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2017 to 2021. The highest age standardised incidence rate for melanoma was 36.6 for males born in the Australia and New Zealand region and the lowest rate of 0.4 was observed in males born in the North-East Asia region. The highest age standardised incidence rate for melanoma was 28.3 for females born in the Australia and New Zealand region and the lowest rate of 0.9 was observed in females born in the North-East Asia region.
Melanoma distribution by stage at diagnosis
Figure 7 shows distribution of melanoma by stage of disease at diagnosis in 2021. In males, Stage 1 accounted for the largest proportion (67.8%) of new diagnoses and Stage unknown accounted for the lowest proportion (3.3%) of new melanoma diagnoses. In females, Stage 1 accounted for the largest proportion (75.4%) of new diagnoses and Stage 4 accounted for the lowest proportion (2.6%) of new melanoma diagnoses.
Melanoma five-year relative survival
Figure 8 shows the change in 5-year survival for melanoma, 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 between 1986-1990 and 2016-2020 from 85% to 93%.