According to the latest statistics available from the National Cancer Institute, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), American Academy of Dermatology and our researcher’s literature review on skin cancer indicate that:

• Cancer of the skin is the most common of all cancers in the United States.
  
  
• More than 1 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer are diagnosed in the US each year.
  
  
• 1 in 5 Americans will develop some form of skin cancer during their lifetime.
  
  
• Skin cancers mainly include basal cell carcinomas (80%), squamous cell carcinomas (16%) and melanomas (4%).
  
  
• Melanoma represents only 4 percent of all skin cancers in the US, but accounts for more than 75 percent of all skin cancer deaths.
  
  
• Both basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas have a 95 percent cure rate when detected and treated early.
  
  
• Melanoma represents only about 5% of all skin cancers in the United States, but it accounts for about 75 % of all skin cancer deaths.
  
  
• If detected early melanomas have a high cure rate, however in an advanced stage it can spread to other organs of the body.
  
  
• There will be about 105,750 new cases of melanoma in 2005 - 46,170 in
  situnoninvasive) and 59,580 invasive (33,580 men and 26,000 women).* This is a 10 percent increase in new cases of melanoma from 2004.
  
  
• One American dies of melanoma almost every hour (every 68 minutes).
  More than 73 percent of skin cancer deaths are from melanoma.
  
  
• Older Caucasian males have the highest mortality rates from melanoma.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• Melanoma incidence rates are 20 times higher for Caucasians than for African-Americans. However, people with dark-pigmented skin can also develop melanoma, particularly on the palms of the hands, on the soles of the feet, under the nails, and inside the mouth.
  
  
• Melanoma is more common than any non-skin cancer among women between 25 and 29 years old.
  
  
• For a child born in the new millennium, the lifetime risk for developing a NMSC is estimated to be 28% to 33% for BCC and 7% to 11% for SCC.
  
  
• Chronic exposure to ultraviolet radiation may be the most important risk factor for the development of actinic keratoses, precursors of squamous cell carcinomas.
  
  
• Migration studies show people born in areas with excessive solar radiation have three times the risk to develop skin cancer than those who move to these areas in adulthood.
  
  
• Non-melanoma skin cancers rarely metastasize, thus they have a high cure rate.
  
  
• The incidence of melanoma, one of the most harmful forms of skin cancer is increasing among children and teenagers. The rate of melanoma has doubled during the past 20 years.
  
  
• The epidemiological evidence suggesting UV exposure as a primary cause of melanoma is further supported by molecular evidence that damage caused by UV radiation, particularly damage to our DNA, plays a critical role in the development of melanoma.
  
  
• Childhood is the most important time for developing moles, which is an important risk factor for melanoma.
  
  
• Studies support exposure to UV radiation during childhood and adolescence play a role in the future development of melanoma.
  
  
• Persons with a history of >1 blistering sunburn during childhood or adolescence are two times as likely to develop melanoma than those who did not have such exposures.
  
  
• In general the incidence rates of melanoma among Caucasians are at least 16 times greater than in African Americans and 10 times greater than Hispanics.
  
  
• You can burn on a cloudy day.
  
  
• UV rays are their strongest between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. especially between April to October.
  
  
• 80% of skin cancers occur above the neck.
  
  
• Not only fair skinned people are at risk from too much exposure to sunlight.
  
  
• A suntan is not a sign of good health.
  
  
• Even if you stay in the water your skin will burn.
  
  
• One blistering sunburn can double your child's chances of developing Skin cancer later in life.
  
  
• The estimated total direct cost associated with the treatment of melanoma in 2004 was $284 million. Of that total, office visits account for $101.1 million; hospital outpatient treatment account for $74.5 million; prescription drugs account for $73.6 million; hospital inpatient treatment accounts for $33.4 million; and emergency room treatment $1.2 million.

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