Age-standardized incidence of melanoma in people aged under 55 years

Data source
The main source of data used for this report is the Globocan 2008 web site (1), augmented by newer data from individual cancer registries. The IARC data from Cancer incidence in five continents (CI5) (10) are used to illustrate time trends in incidence in Scandinavia, with estimates based on data from national cancer registries.

Description of data
In the past the Globocan data allowed estimations of incidence only for the age interval from 0 to 54 years. Now data for the age interval from 0 to 49 years are also available. Data for the 0 to 55 years age group have been used, since they allow for more countries to be included in the comparisons. Most of the registries in Europe have data available from the beginning of the 1980s and allow for the investigation of time trends. Cancer registration is a continuous procedure and summary reports are usually produced annually. However, due to the time required for data management and production of reports, there is often a time-lag of one or two years until the data are publicly available.

The IARC CI5 data allow world-standardized estimates to be computed from the incidence of melanoma by age for ten periods between 1953–1957 and 1998–2002.

Method of calculating the indicator
Incidence in people under 55 years old is the number of cases during the period of consideration divided by the number of person-years in the population targeted. It is given in the number of new cases per 100 000 person-years. The incidence is given by calculating the number of cases on the mean population size during the period considered. The age-standardized rate (world standard) is calculated using selected age groups. The age group considered for this fact sheet is 0-54 years.

Geographical coverage
National melanoma incidence estimates for 27 European countries.

Period of coverage
The disease rates are not those for 2008 but are taken from the most recent data available, generally 2–5 years earlier, derived from IARC data.

Frequency of update
Every five years.

Data quality
Globocan data have been chosen because they give the best estimates of national incidence in European countries. Data sources are continually improving in quality and extent. However, estimates may not be directly comparable over time, so caution is advised when comparing these estimates with those published earlier. Any differences observed may be the result of a change to the methodology; they should not necessarily be interpreted as time-trend effects.

Globocan incorporates incidence data from the IARC CI5 database, which relies on cancer registries worldwide. All IARC CI5 data are subject to the possibility of error concerning classification and data collection. Validity estimates are available from the respective website (2). Unfortunately, most of the registries are local rather than national, which impedes the use of these data for regional and international comparisons.