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Why It Can't Be Ignored
There's nothing good about skin cancer. But unlike some other types of cancer, at least the primary cause is known: the sun.
The good news is, skin cancer can be easily prevented . It's also highly curable if caught early. Knowing the facts about skin cancer will help raise your awareness about the condition. It could even help you find skin cancer before it's too late.
One in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer during the course of a lifetime.
Since the 1970s, more people have had skin cancer than all other cancers combined.
Left untreated, AK can progress to skin cancer. However, AK can go away without ever turning into skin cancer.
AK is one of the most common skin diseases diagnosed by dermatologists.
About 1 in 6 Americans is affected by AK.
It's seen even more in Americans who are at risk and older than 40: about 60% of these people have AK.
AK may
develop into a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
In the elderly, 40%-60% of all SCC starts as AK.
In the United States, more than 2 million people develop nonmelanoma skin cancers, primarily BCC, annually.
While rarely fatal, BCC can have serious effects on a person's physical appearance, sometimes destroying a whole side of the face, if left untreated.
SCC is the second most common form of skin cancer.
An estimated 700,000 Caucasian-Americans are diagnosed annually.
SCC kills as many as 2,500 Americans each year.
One in 59 people will be diagnosed with melanoma during his or her lifetime.
One person dies of melanoma almost every hour.
If detected and treated before it spreads, the 5-year survival rate for melanoma patients is 98%. The survival rate falls to 16% for patients with advanced disease.
About 65% of melanoma cases can be from the sun.
More than 5 sunburns during a person's lifetime may double his or her risk for melanoma, regardless of when they occurred.
If you'd like to know more about skin cancer,
talk to a dermatologist .