Black men face an increased risk of dying of melanoma, study finds

By Claretta Bellamy, NBC

Black men are at a higher risk of death from melanoma than other racial groups, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD).

Across 205,125 cases of male patients diagnosed with cutaneous invasive melanoma from 2004 to 2018 tracked by the National Cancer Database, the five-year survival rate was the lowest for Black men at 51.7%. The rate of survival was the highest for white men, at 75.1%, compared to the other racial groups in the study. 

White men are more likely to get melanoma, according to the CDC, the study found that Black people have a 26% higher risk of death from melanoma than the white population.

Cutaneous melanoma  — a form of cancer that begins in pigment-producing cells — is the most aggressive and fatal form of skin cancer, according to the National Library of Medicine. 

While gender and race are both predictors of survival in people diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma, less is known about the role race plays specifically among men; that is what the study explored. 

NBC has more details.

Black women are similarly more likely to die from some cancers than their white counterparts.

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