Melanoma incidence in Tauranga 1980-9.

This study was a retrospective case series of melanoma taken from pathology records. The denominator population was the nonMaori population of the old Tauranga Hospital Board area. The age standardised incidence over the period 1980-9 was 33.0 per 100,000, males 31.4, females 36.8. Age specific rates showed a double peak in middle aged and elderly age groups due to female rates peaking at 40 to 59 and male rates peaking at 65+. Younger people presented with thinner lesions than old people, women had thinner lesions than men and thin lesions became increasingly common during the decade, being approximately 50% of lesions in 1988-9. The incidence increased by 2.25 times in ten years and Tauranga incidence is between that of Queensland and other Australian states.