Australian experts are calling for a nationally accredited skin cancer training program for GPs to manage a “tsunami” of new melanoma cases predicted over the next two decades.

The calls came in response to research that shows worldwide cases of invasive melanoma are expected to hit 510,000 new cases a year by 2040 — a 50% increase on 2020 numbers.

If 2020 rates remain stable, this will result in a 68% increase in deaths due to the disease, with global numbers predicted to hit 96,000 per year by 2040, according to Australian and French researchers in JAMA Dermatology.

However, the rise in cases and deaths — which reflected population growth and ageing — could be averted through early detection and “curative” treatment and public health prevention measures, the authors say.