Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Black people are more likely to die from the most deadly type of skin cancer, scientists claim

Although white people have a higher chance of developing skin cancer, patients with dark skin are less likely to survive. Patients of African-American descent were more likely to be diagnosed with melanoma once it had spread - making it harder to treat, researchers found. But experts said that this didn't explain their findings, as they also had the worst survival rates for every stage of the disease. Melanoma - the deadliest form of skin cancer - can appear anywhere on the body. It often spreads to other organs in the body, making it more deadly. Researchers studied nearly 97,000 patients diagnosed with melanoma between 1992 and 2009. Although white people had the highest incidence rates, they also had the best survival rates. Hispanic patients were second most likely to survive the deadly disease, followed by Asian Americans, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders.

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