Extracutaneous melanoma epidemiology in British Columbia.

The epidemiology of extracutaneous melanoma (ECM) is sparsely reported upon in the literature, and studies to date have been limited both by time and by geographic gaps in available data. Utilizing a comprehensive provincial cancer registry, we sought to analyze the incidence and survival rates of ECM on the basis of sex and anatomic distribution for the British Columbia, Canada population. Data on ECMs diagnosed between 1 January 1992 and 31 December 2006 were obtained from the BC Cancer Registry.

The burden of skin disease in the United States and Canada.

The burden of skin disease is a crucial indicator of the impact of skin disease in the general population. Despite many documented attempts in the literature to quantify independent parameters of skin disease burden, strides towards more comprehensive estimations have mainly arisen in the last decade. Utilizing the World Health Organization breakdown of disease burden, the literature was surveyed and summarized in respect to the classification, epidemiology, quality of life, and costs associated with skin disease.