Melanoma rates growing among New Zealand’s Māori

Dr. Monique Mackenzie (Ngāti Tūwharetoa)

Rates of melanoma skin cancer among the Māori population are growing in New Zealand, the nation with the highest melanoma mortality rate in the world, said Dr. Monique Mackenzie (Ngāti Tūwharetoa) in a presentation at the first annual Indigenous Skin Spectrum Global Summit.

As with many other darker-skinned populations, the Māori tend to present later, with greater Breslow thickness and have poorer outcomes. However, research in this population faces several challenges.

The Summit, held on April 5, 2025, is dedicated to improving the cultural competence of healthcare providers worldwide, and provided practical clinical information on the latest and best research in the context of Indigenous, circumpolar, and rural communities.

Dr. Mackenzie is a Consultant Dermatologist at Skin Centre, Tauranga, New Zealand.  She is the first Indigenous Māori Dermatologist in New Zealand.

She said there had been a 4.3% increase in the age-standardized rate of melanoma in New Zealand’s Māori between 2000 and 2021.

A study published in the World Journal of Surgery (Aug. 2010; 34(8):1788-1792)) found that Māori patients showed a greater Breslow thickness at the time of diagnosis as well as a later presentation. “Breslow thickness also increased with age and was quite significant over the age of 70,” Dr. Mackenzie said. There were also significantly poorer survival outcomes.

Also, the distribution of melanoma showed it occurred more frequently on non-sun exposed sites, and acral melanoma was of much greater incidence than in patients of European ancestry.

Dr. Mackenzie said there are 156% more excess deaths due to melanoma among the Māori population compared to their European counterparts. She identified several factors that may contribute to that finding:

• Poor access to health care and private health insurance

• Existing socio-economic disparities

• A lack of education in detection among both patients and healthcare providers

• A misperception in the community that having a darker skin type protects you from skin cancers

• There is an acute lack of clinical research in this population

  
  

“Data collection has been fraught in New Zealand,” said Dr. Mackenzie. “That's mainly around deciding on a definition for different ethnicity groups. Historically, it's been inaccurately collected. Only about one in five Māori were documented as being Indigenous Māori with their national health index numbers.” She noted there is no accurate count of non-melanoma skin cancers in New Zealand’s Māori population.