Australian men’s melanoma risk increases as they age, with their incidence rate exceeding that of women by the time they reach 45, a study shows.

A team of researchers from the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane examined rates of invasive melanoma in men and women, and variation in body sites depending on gender across three decades. 

Drawing on cancer registry data, they looked at fair-skinned populations exposed to different levels of sunlight in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. 

In Australia, they found that men’s melanoma incidence exceeded that of women’s by the 45-49-year age group, the earliest of any population in the study. This change occurred latest for Denmark, with men not experiencing higher rates than women until after they had reached 65.