Relationship of Melanoma and other Skin Cancer Mortality to Latitude and Ultraviolet Radiation in the United States and Canada

Age-standardized mortality rates from malignant melanoma and from other skin tumours, for each Canadian province and United States state, over the period 1950–67 were examined. Both rates show a strong negative relationship with the geographical latitude of the largest city in the province or state. The rates of change of mortality rate with latitude in the two disease categories are similar in each sex, being greater in males than in females. …