Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Deaths due to Melanoma of the Skin
Summary Indicator Report Data View Options
Why Is This Important?
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. [https://www.cdc.gov/skin-cancer/statistics/ ^1^] Of the three most common types of skin cancer, melanoma causes the most deaths. [https://www.cdc.gov/skin-cancer/about/index.html ^2^]
Definition
Deaths with malignant melanoma of the skin as the underlying cause of death ICD-10 code: C43
Data Sources
- Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health
(https://www.nj.gov/health/vital/) - Population Estimates, State Data Center, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
(https://www.nj.gov/labor/labormarketinformation/demographics/population-household-estimates/) - Underlying Cause of Death, CDC WONDER On-line Database, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(https://wonder.cdc.gov/Deaths-by-Underlying-Cause.html)
How the Measure is Calculated
| Numerator: | Number of deaths due to malignant melanoma of the skin |
| Denominator: | Estimated number of persons in the population |
How Are We Doing?
People with light complexions have the highest risk of melanoma of the skin, thus the age-adjusted incidence rate among Whites is more than 15 times that of Blacks. Because every racial/ethnic group other than Whites had fewer than 13 melanoma deaths per year, annual rates are only shown for Whites and a separate Healthy NJ 2020 target was only set for Whites. Revised targets for the total population and Whites were met in 2017 but a slight increase in 2020 caused the rates to rise above the revised targets but not the original targets. The death rate due to melanoma among males is more than double that of females.
How Do We Compare With the U.S.?
The death rate due to melanoma of the skin in New Jersey is the same as that of the nation as a whole.
Available Services
The New Jersey Department of Health (NJDOH) has many programs and partnerships related to cancer resources, cancer information and cancer prevention. [http://nj.gov/health/ces/]
More Resources
CDC Skin Cancer Info: [https://www.cdc.gov/skin-cancer/] National Cancer Institute: [https://www.cancer.gov/types/skin] NJ Cancer Incidence Data: [http://www.nj.gov/health/ces/cancer-researchers/cancer-data/]
Footnote References
1. CDC, [https://www.cdc.gov/skin-cancer/statistics/ Melanoma of the Skin Statistics], 10/24/23 2. CDC, [https://www.cdc.gov/skin-cancer/about/index.html Skin Cancer Basics], 12/6/23