Trends in incidence of non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers in central Serbia

Introduction/Objective The incidence of both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) has been increasing over the past decades worldwide. NMSC is the most common cancer in white population and melanoma is one of the deadliest cancers today. The objective of the paper was to determine trends in age-standardized incidence rates of NMSC and melanoma in central Serbia from 1999 to 2013. Method A descriptive epidemiological study was done. Data about incidence for NMSC and melanoma were obtained from the Serbian Cancer Registry and data about population originating from 1991, 2001, and 2011 censuses. Crude incidence rates were calculated per 100,000 inhabitants. Direct method of standardization was performed with the world population as the standard. Trend lines were estimated using linear regression. Results During a 15-year period, the total number of new NMSC cases was 41,719 [21,690 (52%) in men and 20,029 (48%) in women]. There were 5,781 new cases of melanoma [2,969 (51.4%) in men and 2,812 (48.6%) in women]. A significantly increasing incidence trend for NMSC both in men (y = 0.617x + 24.29, R-2 = 0.500) and women (y = 0.672x + 0.670, R-2 = 0.670) was determined. In the same period, a statistically significant increase of incidence trend for melanoma was determined in men (y = 0.111x + 3.708, R-2 = 0.384) and in women (y = 0.098x + 3.375, R-2 = 0.409). NMSC was registered in persons of all ages. NMSC incidence increased rapidly in persons older than 50 years. Melanoma predominates in children and adolescents and is registered more frequently than NMSC in persons bellow 60 years of age. Conclusion Our findings showed significantly increasing trend of age-standardized incidence rates for both NMCC and melanoma. In the observed period, there were 7.2 times more new cases of NMSC than melanoma in the population of central Serbia. There were more registered new cases of NMSC and melanoma in men than in women. Screening of skin cancers and earlier diagnosis may improve treatment and prognosis.