We already know that men tend to present to the doctor with melanomas that are on average more advanced than the melanomas found in women. However, a recent study from the Netherlands found that even when you take into account this difference, men overall have a worse prognosis than women as far as melanoma goes. That means even if the melanomas appear to be at the same stage, if it is on a man there is a higher risk it will result in death than if the same melanoma was on a woman. The reasons for this difference are not clear but possibly could be related to androgen levels. Whatever the cause it highlights the need to subdivide different patients as well as different melanomas to get a more accurate prognosis and so guide treatment as well as education and preventative strategies. Certainly it should be a wake up call to men how may be reluctant to visit their doctor for a skin cancer screening exam.

Article Citation:

Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology: JEADV
Sex Matters: Men With Melanoma Have a Worse Prognosis Than Women
J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2019 Jun 27;[EPub Ahead of Print], MA El Sharouni, AJ Witkamp, V Sigurdsson, PJ van Diest, MWJ Louwman, NA Kukutsch