ABSTRACT The number of melanoma cases in the elderly (>65 years) will rise over the coming decades, making it an important public health problem. Elderly white men are the demographic

group who are at highest risk of being diagnosed with melanoma and of dying from this cancer. Among patients with melanoma, older age is recognized as an independent poor prognostic factor,

but it remains unclear whether this relationship is due to a change in the biology of the disease with increasing patient age, declining host defenses, or both. Most elderly patients can

have surgery to control locoregional disease, but might not be candidates for intensive biologic therapies for advanced melanoma because of comorbidities and inability to tolerate the

among the elderly (>65 years) is expected to increase owing to the aging population * Older men are at higher risk of developing melanoma, and once diagnosed, are at higher risk of dying

from this cancer compared with other demographic groups * Older men often present with thicker lesions and a truncal location compared with older women, making self-detection less likely *

Melanomas in elderly patients often have poor prognostic features compared with younger patients, including ulceration, elevated mitotic rate, and head and neck location * Older age is an

independent, adverse prognostic factor even after taking all other factors into account * Older patients are less likely to receive standard surgery for melanoma, although they usually

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our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS RISK OF SECOND PRIMARY MALIGNANCIES AMONG SURVIVORS OF CUTANEOUS MELANOMA: A NATIONWIDE POPULATION-BASED STUDY IN

THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA Article Open access 28 January 2025 CAUSES OF DEATH AMONG PATIENTS WITH CUTANEOUS MELANOMA: A US POPULATION-BASED STUDY Article Open access 24 June 2023 EPIDEMIOLOGICAL

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INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Surgery, Johns Hopkins Hospital, 600 North Wolfe Street, Carnegie 681, Baltimore, 21287, MD, USA Susan Tsai, Charles Balch & Julie

Lange Authors * Susan Tsai View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Charles Balch View author publications You can also search for this author

inPubMed Google Scholar * Julie Lange View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Charles Balch. ETHICS

DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing financial interests. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Tsai, S., Balch,

C. & Lange, J. Epidemiology and treatment of melanoma in elderly patients. _Nat Rev Clin Oncol_ 7, 148–152 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2010.1 Download citation * Published:

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