Men with melanoma, a type of skin cancer, are more likely to die than women with the disease – with Black men dying at the highest rate, according to a new study published Tuesday (July 11) in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Researchers found that among men, White males with melanoma had the highest survival rate at 75 percent, compared to Black men at 52 percent. Other male survival rates were 69 percent for American Indian/Alaska Natives, 68 percent for Asians, and 66 percent for Hispanics.

The study also uncovered ethnic and racial differences in the location of melanoma. There’s a greater likelihood that melanoma would develop on the trunk of the upper bodies for White and and American Indian/Alaskan Native men. But Black, Asian and Hispanic men tend to develop melanoma in their lower extremities, in locations that get no sun exposure.

At the same time, the disease is typically discovered in the advanced stages for Black, Hispanic and Asian men.

A melanoma diagnosis often stems from either the patient or a loved one observing an unusual spot on the body. But  the spots are difficult to notice on darker skin and in locations that are not typically exposed, said Dr. Ashley Wysong, a dermatologist and co-author of the study.

Melanoma is highly treatable if detected early, but men are less likely to seek medical care than women, Wysong noted.

“However, even after accounting for later stages at diagnosis, men still have worse overall survival rates than women with melanoma, so we suspect that there are some unmeasured social, genetic, tumor-specific and potentially biological factors at play, such as hormones and the way the immune system responds to melanoma tumors,” she added.

Melanoma, which can spread to other parts of the body, accounts for more than 9,000 deaths each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new study involved an analysis of melanoma diagnosis data from the National Cancer Database, from 2004 until 2018, of more than 200,000 participants.