UV-Related Melanoma Cancer and Its Association with the Human Development Index (HDI): GLOBOCAN Sources and Methods

Exposure to radiation is a major risk factor for skin cancer so that 65 to 90% of skin cancers can be attributed to the exposure with sunlight.

The current study aimed to investigate the association between the human development index and the incidence of UV-related melanoma.

This is an ecological study. Data on the incidence of UV-induced melanoma were extracted from the GLOBOCAN estimates (GLOBOCAN 2012), and data on the human development index were extracted from the World Health Organization (WHO) database. Data analysis was conducted by Stata software (Ver. 14). The descriptive analysis involved mean and standard deviation. The correlation method was used to evaluate the association between the population attributable fraction (PAF) of melanoma for ultraviolet (UV) and the HDI components. A P value < 0.005 was considered as statistically significant.

The results revealed a significant positive association between UV-attributable melanoma cancer and HDI in women (r = 0.401, P < 0.0001), men (r = 0.488, P < 0.0001), and both sexes (r = 0.455, P < 0.0001). In Americas (r = 0.452, P < 0.05) and Europe (r = 0.740, P < 0.05), a significant positive correlation was observed between UV-induced melanoma and HDI, but this association was not significant in Asia (P > 0.05). In Africa, a negative correlation was observed, though it was not statistically significant (r = -0.301, P > 0.05). The results of the analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed a significant statistical relationship between the incidence of UV-related melanoma and the levels of development (F = 25.1, P < 0.0001) so that the higher the score of HDI, the higher the incidence of this cancer.

Since there is a positive correlation between UV-related melanoma and HDI, further attention should be paid to this risk factor, especially in countries with a high HDI to reduce the UV-induced melanoma cancer.