Age reshapes selection on melanoma driver mutations

Aging is a major risk factor for melanoma. However, it is unclear whether aging fuels tumor evolution by altering mutation rates, changing the microenvironmentally induced selection on drivers, or both. We analyzed 5472 melanomas, estimating how selection on individual variants changes with patient age while accounting for differing neutral mutation rates. Neutral mutation rates increased only modestly with age; ultraviolet damage remained predominant, but endogenous processes increasingly contributed to older tumors. In contrast, selection on major drivers was strongly age dependent: The advantage of BRAF V600E declined precipitously with age, whereas NRAS Q61 mutations gained advantage. TERT promoter mutations became more frequent, yet less advantageous. Aging therefore reshapes melanoma evolution primarily by altering selection, motivating age-conscious evaluation of clinical biomarkers and therapies.