INTRODUCTION: In Brazil, skin cancer is the most common type of cancer, and melanoma is the most lethal.
OBJECTIVES: To analyze the temporal trend of mortality due to melanoma in Brazil between 2000 and 2016.
METHODS: Ecological time-series study involving all deaths from melanoma in Brazil from 2000 to 2016. The crude death rate, adjusted for the Brazilian population and the world population, was analyzed. For the analysis, we used the regression model by inflection point with 5% significance.
RESULTS: In the period, 22,963 deaths from melanoma were recorded in Brazil, with an increasing trend in the crude death rate (2.6%), and in the adjusted rates for the Brazilian (0.6%) and the world population (0.5%). In the Southeast, we observed a steady trend in the crude death rate and the adjusted rate for the Brazilian population, as well as a decreasing trend in the world population rate. The crude death rate (77.77%; n=21); the Brazilian population (59.25%; n=16), and the world population adjusted rates (55.55%; n=15) presented an increasing trend. Only São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro showed a decreasing trend in the death rate adjusted for the Brazilian and the world population.
CONCLUSIONS: The study showed an increase in mortality from melanoma in Brazil. Policies should be implemented to favor early diagnosis and timely treatment.

Keywords: Melanoma; Time series studies; Epidemiology

INTRODUCTION: Melanoma comprises 3% of all skin tumors and can produce metastasis with high mortality.
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the temporal behavior of mortality from skin melanoma in the capitals of Northeast Brazil from 2001 to 2017.
METHODS: We conducted an ecological time series study involving all deaths due to melanoma registered in the capitals of the Northeast region of Brazil from 2001 to 2017. Crude and standardized rates by the world and Brazilian populations were analyzed. We obtained the indicators from the National Cancer Institute (INCA). The regression model by inflection points was used in the statistical analysis, calculating the annual variation and the average annual variation percentages.
RESULTS: There were 954 deaths from melanoma. The three rates analyzed showed a linear growth trend over the time series: proportional mortality increased from 2.1% to 8.28% (AAPC 6.0%; p<0.02), the crude mortality grew from 0.22 to 0.64/100 thousand (AAPC 5.0%; p<0.01) and the mortality adjusted by the world population in the capitals of the Northeast rose from 0.28 to 0.61/100 thousand (AAPC 2.7%; p<0.01).
CONCLUSION: Mortality from melanoma grew in the Northeastern capitals, with inequality between the sexes and according to the capitals.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Melanoma; Mortality; Skin neoplasms.