Melanoma Mortality Disproportionately High in Transitioning Countries: Why Late Diagnosis Matters

Although transitioning countries generally have a low incidence of melanoma, they tend to experience a disproportionate number of melanoma-related deaths. This is especially true in regions like Asia and Africa, where case fatality rates are higher. A recent cohort study by Zheng et al. (1) examined Asians and Pacific Islanders, who are at lower risk of developing melanoma than Caucasians. The study found that these groups have lower overall and disease-specific survival rates than Caucasians, largely because of late diagnosis and inadequate treatment.