More Americans, particularly older men, have developed the deadly skin cancer melanoma, a new study showed.

The rate is increasing among all Americans and cannot be due to better screening alone, researchers at the Stanford University Medical Center (SUMC) said in the study published in the Jan. issue of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

The rise in melanoma cases could indicate an epidemic of skin cancer, the researchers warned.

"Melanoma rates are still going up, especially among older white men," said lead researcher Dr. Eleni Linos, from the dermatology department at SUMC. "This calls for greater awareness for patients, their families and physicians."

The researchers based their study on data from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program to identify new cases of melanoma between 1992 and 2004. During that period, 70,596 cases of melanoma were diagnosed among non-Hispanic whites in the United States, a 3.1-percent increase a year, the study said.

The increased rate was for all types of melanoma and for all thickness of tumors, said the study.

Moreover, the rate of melanoma doubled in all socioeconomic groups, while deaths from the disease did not increase significantly, according to the study.

While blaming tanning for a major cause, the researchers called for strengthening public education to discourage people from too much tanning.

(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2008)