Single Men Suffer High Risk of Death from Skin Cancer, Study

Cohabitation status and gender has a strong influence on death risks from the most aggressive skin cancer, according to Swedish researchers.

The study led by researchers at Krolinska Institutet and Linkoping University reveal that men of all ages, living alone suffer a high risk of death from cutaneous malignant melanoma, the fastest growing, most aggressive form of cancer among the Caucasian population. This cancer is one of the rising health concerns among the young population.

This is one of the first studies that have made a detailed analysis of the association between prognosis of cutaneous malignant melanoma and the cohabitation status of the patient. Researchers examined data retrieved from the Swedish Melanoma Register.

The data was based on cutaneous malignant melanoma cases that were diagnosed in Sweden from 1990-2007.  Researchers evaluated the risk of dying from melanoma among over 27,000 melanoma patients in relation to whether they lived alone or with a partner, at the time of diagnosis.  The researchers took into consideration certain risk factors such as characteristics of the tumor, gender, educational level and site at which the tumor was present.

Melanoma of the skin can be cured only if the tumor has been surgically removed before the spread of cancer cells to other parts of the body. There is 90 percent long-term survival only if the thin cutaneous malignant melanoma is detected early.  The prognosis is worse if the patients are diagnosed with the cancer at advanced stages

"We were able to show that living alone among men is significantly associated with a reduced melanoma-specific survival, partially attributed to a more advanced stage at diagnosis. Our study shows that this applies to men of all ages, regardless of their level of education and place of residence," Hanna Eriksson, PhD at the Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, said in a news statement.

The study researchers also noticed that older women living along were diagnosed at the advanced stage of the disease, whereas there was no effect on the melanoma-specific prognosis among single living women as a group

"This points to a need for targeted interventions for earlier detection of cutaneous malignant melanoma in men and older individuals since this is critical for surviving the disease. By way of example, procedures are needed for skin examinations of these patients in connection with other doctor visits or check-ups," says Hanna Eriksson, the first study author of the study.

The reason why single men and older women are diagnosed with melanoma in later stages could be because of the difference in taking on information about the disease.  This could also be linked to the insufficient access to skin examinations.

This study was documented in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.