Incidence of In Situ and Invasive Cutaneous Melanomas During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the US
Clinical Summary
View sourceWhat was studied
A population-based cohort analysis using SEER assessed age-adjusted incidence rates for in situ and invasive cutaneous melanoma across 17 US registries from 2018–2020, comparing pre–COVID (2018–2019) with 2020. The cohort included 76,846 new cases (34,051 in situ; 42,795 invasive).
Key findings
New melanoma diagnoses declined from 27,296 (2018) and 27,658 (2019) to 21,892 (2020). Invasive melanoma incidence rates were significantly lower in 2020, largely due to fewer T1, non-ulcerated, non-mitogenic, and stage I tumors.
Study limitations
SEER covers about 48% of US cancer diagnoses, limiting generalizability. Patients with non-Hispanic unknown race (12.40%) and unknown rurality (0.03%) were excluded; key pathology fields were missing in a minority of invasive cases (e.g., unknown Breslow thickness ~11%–12%), though sensitivity analyses reported similar findings.
Clinical implications
Expect a 2020 dip in diagnosed invasive cutaneous melanomas—most pronounced in early-stage categories—when benchmarking incidence or service volumes. Interpret year-over-year trends with caution for that period.
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