Skin cancer is a malignancy that forms in the tissues of the skin. More than 20 Americans die each day from skin cancer, primarily melanoma. One person dies of melanoma almost every hour (every 62 minutes).

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation

• Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than one million skin cancers are diagnosed annually.
  
• One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.
  
• Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common form of skin cancer; about one million of the cases diagnosed annually are BCCs. BCCs are rarely fatal, but can be highly disfiguring.
  
• Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common form of skin cancer. More than 250,000 cases are diagnosed each year, resulting in approximately 2,500 deaths.
  
• BCC and SCC are the two major forms of non-melanoma skin cancer. Between 40 and 50 percent of Americans who live to age 65 will have either skin cancer at least once.
  
• About 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.

In regards to malignant melanoma:

The incidence of melanoma is increasing faster than that of almost any other
cancer.

• Approximately 62,480 melanomas will be diagnosed this year, with nearly 8,420 resulting in death.
  
  Incidence            Deaths
  Men: 34,950          5,400
  Women: 27,350     3,020
  
  
• Melanoma accounts for about three percent of skin cancer cases, but it causes more than 75 percent of skin cancer deaths.
  
• Melanoma mortality more than doubled from 1950-2004.
  The survival rate for patients whose melanoma is detected early (before it has reached the lymph nodes) is about 99 percent. The survival rate falls to 15 percent for those with advanced disease.
  
• Melanoma is the sixth most common cancer for males and seventh most common for females.
  
• Melanoma is the second most common form of cancer for young adults 15-29 years old.
  
• About 65 percent of melanoma cases can be attributed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
  
• One in 55 people will be diagnosed with melanoma during their lifetime.
  
• One blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence more than doubles a person's chances of developing melanoma later in life.
  
• A person's risk for melanoma doubles if he or she has had five or more sunburns at any age.

Treatment is often surgical (excision), but newer therapies include topical immunotherapy and photodynamic therapy (PDT). Treatment is often very successful, but outcome depends on site, severity, and stage of the cancer.

Prevention is key to avoiding skin cancer. Wearing protective clothing, such as light colored, long sleeved shirts, pants, and hats, as well as the use of broad-spectrum sunscreen helps reduce UV exposure. Avoiding sunburns is extremely important.

At the Knight Dermatology Institute, we specialize in detection and treatment of all skin cancers. In addition, regular self-screening skin exams are imperative to detecting skin cancer in its earliest, and most easily treated, stage.