6/25/2026
FAU Study: Melanoma Rates Highest in Older Floridians
Research reveals sharp disparities between age, sex, race and ethnicity.
A new study from Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine examined skin cancer incidence and melanoma-related deaths among Florida adults age 65 and older, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database. The population-based analysis covered diagnoses from 2018 to 2021 and mortality data from 2018 to 2023, focusing on differences by age, sex, race and ethnicity, with basal and squamous cell carcinomas excluded to better isolate melanoma and other less common skin cancers.
The findings, published in the Journal of Geriatric Oncology, show that older adults in Florida carry the highest burden of melanoma, with men experiencing roughly twice as many deaths as women across the study period. Non-Hispanic and white populations also had higher rates of diagnosis and mortality compared to Hispanic and other racial and ethnic groups. Researchers noted that these disparities likely reflect a combination of differences in sun exposure, prevention behaviors, access to care and potential biological factors, underscoring the need for improved screening, education and targeted public health outreach.
“Taken together, our findings suggest that skin cancer in Florida is driven not only by ultraviolet exposure, but also by behavioral patterns, biological factors and persistent gaps in prevention and early detection – particularly among older men,” said Lea Sacca, Ph.D., senior author and an assistant professor of population health in the Schmidt College of Medicine.