The effects of public education on the incidence and presentation of cutaneous melanoma in Central Texas.

Despite intensive public education, the incidence of melanoma in Central Texas has remained relatively constant (from 175 per 100,000 during 1981-1990 to 190 per 100,000 during 1991-2000). Although other investigators have hypothesized that the slight increase in incidence results from increased detection and reporting of early-stage (thinner) tumors, we found the average thickness was 0.99 mm from 1981 through 1990 and 1.11 mm from 1990 through 2000 (P = .30). These data suggest that despite efforts at public education, the incidence of melanoma in Central Texas is not decreasing and people are not identifying their tumors at an earlier stage.