Objectives: For malignant melanoma of skin, one of the most aggressive skin cancers, great differences in mortality across the world have been observed during the last decades. The purpose of this study was to assess the mortality of malignant melanoma of skin in Serbia in 1991-2019.

Materials and methods: This is a national-wide descriptive epidemiological study. Age-standardized rates (ASRs) for malignant melanoma of skin mortality were calculated (per 100000), and the average annual percent change (AAPC) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was used to evaluate trends. Joinpoint regression analysis was applied.

Results: Average annual ASR of malignant melanoma of skin mortality in men was higher than in women (11.2 per 100000 and 3.3 per 100000, respectively). In overall, a significantly decreasing trend for malignant melanoma of skin mortality was observed, but one joinpoint was observed: a significant decrease of malignant melanoma of skin mortality from 1991 to 2012 (by -1.6% per year, 95%CI=-2.0 to -1.2) was followed by a significantly sharp decrease to onwards (by -4.0% per year, 95%CI=-5.9 to -2.2). Trend from malignant melanoma of skin mortality rates significantly decreased both in men (AAPC=-1.6; 95%CI=-1.9 to -1.4) and women (AAPC=-3.5; 95%CI=-3.9 to -3.0). Mortality trends in men and women were not parallel (final selected model rejected parallelism, p=0.0002) and not coincident (final selected model rejected coincidence, p=0.0002).

Conclusion: The trend in malignant melanoma of skin mortality has been decreasing in Serbia in the last decades. Further research will allow a clarification of trends and help in future cancer control.