Skin Cancer Info

Skin Cancer Facts

This year, more than 1,000,000 peo­ple will be diag­nosed with some form of skin can­cer. Skin can­cer is the fastest grow­ing can­cer and affects more peo­ple the prostate, breast, col­orec­tal, and cer­vi­cal can­cers combined.

Melanoma, the most seri­ous type of skin can­cer will account for approx­i­mately 62,000 of the reported mil­lion new cases and will account for about 8,200 of the approx­i­mate 11,000 skin can­cer deaths.

One in five chil­dren will grow up to develop some form of skin cancer.

What You Should Know

There are cer­tain risk fac­tors that may increase the like­li­hood of skin cancer:

  • Fair com­plex­ion, includ­ing light col­ored eyes and hair
  • Unprotected or pro­longed expo­sure to UV radiation
  • Family his­tory of melanoma
  • Multiple or atyp­i­cal moles
  • Severe sun­burns as a child
  • Occupational expo­sure to coal tar, pitch, cre­osote, arsenic or radium

Your risk of sun­burns may be increased if you:

  • Have a sup­pressed immune system
  • Take med­ica­tions that increase sun sen­si­tiv­ity (Consult your doc­tor or pharmacist)

Printable PDF’s with spe­cific skin can­cer information: