According to the Melanoma Foundation of New England, the Northeast has seen a decline in melanoma cases and deaths, even as skin cancer rates have risen nationally.
The results published in the American Medical Association’s dermatology journal show the death rate from melanoma -- the deadliest form of skin cancer -- dropped in six of nine northeast states from 2003 through 2013.
Connecticut is among those six states. The death rate stayed the same in New York and increased in Rhode Island and Maine.
The number of people diagnosed with melanomas also decreased in Connecticut and increased in New York over the same period of time.
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. The mortality rate of melanoma has increased faster than other any preventable cancer, killing more than 9,000 people annually.