TUESDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Hispanic males and non-Hispanic black females residing in Florida have substantially higher incidence rates of melanoma than those same subgroups residing in the United States as a whole, according to research published in the July issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

Panta Rouhani, Ph.D., of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues used 1992 to 2004 data from both a Florida database and a national database to determine the age-adjusted and race/ethnicity- and gender-specific invasive cutaneous melanoma incidence trends over that period.

The researchers found that, among male Hispanic patients residing in Florida, the incidence of melanoma was 20 percent higher than that of male Hispanics in the United States as a whole. Female Hispanics residing in Florida had a 30 percent lower melanoma incidence rate than those in the U.S. sample. Non-Hispanic black females in Florida had a 60 percent higher incidence of melanoma than non-Hispanic black females in the U.S. population sample. The authors concluded that these findings predict a public health melanoma concern in racial and ethnic subgroups that have not previously been adequately studied.

"By comparing national melanoma trends with those obtained from individual states, disparities in melanoma prevention and detection may be uncovered. We are hopeful that the analysis of ethnic disparities in melanoma will prompt public health initiatives. The development of educational campaigns on sun safety and skin cancer awareness should be tailored to the unique needs of Florida," the authors conclude.

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