The US incidence of melanoma has been increasing over the past several decades. In 2016, it is estimated that 76?380 individuals will be diagnosed with invasive melanoma and 10?130 will die of the disease.1 Melanoma represents a small fraction (<5%) of incident skin cancers, yet accounts for an estimated 75% of skin cancer deaths. Even though the incidence of most solid tumors decreased between 1975 and 2012, the incidence of melanoma increased approximately 3% per year.2 Between 2002-2006 and 2007-2011, the average annual cost for melanoma treatment increased nearly 3-fold (from an estimated $0.86 billion to $3.35 billion).2
