Facts About Skin Cancer

According to the latest statistics available from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

• Skin cancer is a malignant tumor that grows in the skin cells and accounts for 50 percent of all cancers.
  
  
• In the U.S. alone, 1 million Americans will be diagnosed this year with nonmelanoma skin cancer, and 55,100 will be diagnosed with melanoma, according to the American Cancer Society.
  
  
• Although exposure to the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays is said to be the most important factor in the cause of skin cancers, about 70 percent of American adults do not use sun-protection measures.
  
  
• Most skin cancers appear after age 50, but skin damage from the sun begins at an early age. Therefore, protection should start in childhood to prevent skin cancer later in life.
  
  
• Almost half (40 to 50 percent) of Americans age 65 or older will have had skin cancer at least once. 

In addition, consider the following statistics from the American Cancer Society and the American Academy of Dermatology:

• Basal cell carcinoma accounts for more than 75 percent of all skin cancers in the US.
  
  
• Both basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas have a 95 percent cure rate when detected and treated early.

• Skin cancer incidence rates are 10 times higher for Caucasians than for African-Americans. However, people with dark-pigmented skin can develop melanoma, particularly on the palms of the hands, on the soles of the feet, under the nails, and inside the mouth.

• Melanoma is expected to be diagnosed in about 55,100 persons this year.

• Melanoma is more common than any non-skin cancer among women between 25 and 29 years old.
  
  
• Melanoma represents only 4 percent of all skin cancers in the US, but accounts for more than 79 percent of all skin cancer deaths.