Skin Cancer: Fast Facts

Reviewed By:
Martin E. Liebling, M.D., FACP

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer, probably accounting for at least half of all cancers. The exact number of cases occurring each year is unknown because cases of non-melanoma skin cancer are not reported to cancer registries.
About half of all Americans who live to age 65 will be diagnosed with skin cancer.
Experts believe that there at least as many non-melanoma skin cancer cases diagnosed each year as all other cancers combined. That amounts to more than a million cases every year. And the number is increasing. This is most likely the result of increased detection and more sun exposure.
Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are the two main forms of non-melanoma skin cancer. Together, they account for about 95 percent of all non-melanoma skin cancers, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). More than 75 percent of all non-melanoma skin cancers diagnosed in the United States are basal cell carcinomas.
According to ACS estimates, approximately 62,480 new melanoma cases will be diagnosed in the United States during 2008.
The number of new melanomas diagnosed each year in the United States is on the rise. However, it seems to have slowed a bit. The incidence rate among white men and women rose an average of 6 percent each year from 1973 until the early 1980s. However, since 1981, it has risen a little less than 3 percent each year.
Approximately 10 percent of those diagnosed with melanoma have a family history of the disease, according to the ACS. Genetic mutations are seen in up to 40 percent of families with a high incidence of melanoma.
Men are about twice as likely to develop non-melanoma as women. They are also more likely to develop melanoma than women (a risk of 1 in 57 versus 1 in 81), according to the ACS. This may be the result of higher amounts of sun exposure among men.
Melanoma often strikes people at a younger age than do most other cancers. According to the ACS, half of all melanomas are found in people under the age of 57.
Whites are 20 times more likely to develop melanoma than are African-Americans, who are more protected by their skin pigment, according to the ACS. However, it should be noted that people of color can develop melanoma.
Non-melanoma skin cancer is rarely fatal. The ACS estimates that less than 2,800 people will die from non-melanoma skin cancer in the United States in 2008.
The mortality rate for non-melanoma skin cancer is dropping. There has been about a 30 percent reduction in the last 30 years.
Although melanoma accounts for only about 4 percent of all skin cancer cases, it is responsible for more than 75 percent of skin-cancer-related deaths. The ACS estimates that approximately 8,420 people in the United States will die of melanoma in 2008.
Melanoma is highly curable, with a five-year survival rate of 97 percent when caught at a localized stage (meaning it has not spread), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The survival rate drops to 63 percent for melanoma that has spread to nearby areas and to 18 percent for cancer that has spread to distant organs.
The mortality rate for melanoma has increased by 50 percent since 1973. A large portion of this increase was seen in older people, and particularly in white men. In recent years, the rate has stabilized for men and slightly decreased for women.
The majority of skin-cancer-related deaths occur in older people who did not receive treatment for their cancer early enough. The risk of dying is also higher in people with suppressed immune systems, such as those with HIV or AIDS or those taking immunosuppressants (drugs that weaken the immune system) after an organ transplant.