State of the science 60th anniversary review

E normous advances in melanoma epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment have occurred in the past 60 years. Before the 1960s, 60% of patients diagnosed with melanoma died, whereas today only 11% have a fatal outcome. 1 These advances have been the result of greater understanding of risk factors, improvement in early detection, and a worldwide increase in education and public awareness, far more so than any advances in treatment. Nonetheless, significant treatment advances have taken place over this time as well. A large number of important scientific and clinical contributions to melanoma have been published in Cancer in the 60 years of its existence. Many are highlighted in this review, along with other pertinent references from the rest of the medical literature that built on, substantiated, or foreshadowed these key contributions. The authors of this review conducted the most reviews of melanoma manuscripts submitted to Cancer in 2006, a fitting acknowledgment of the critical role peer reviewers play in the process of disseminating medical knowledge. Although only a few individuals could be selected to write this review, it is dedicated to all of the peer reviewers of melanoma manuscripts submitted to Cancer over the past 60 years.