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Know the Facts!

What is Melanoma?

Did you know... 

Skin Cancer in General

  • Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than 3.5 million skin cancers in over two million people are diagnosed annually.(1)  

  • Over the past three decades, more people have had skin cancer than all other cancers combined.(3)  

  • One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.(4) 

 

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Melanoma

  • From 1970 to 2009, the incidence of melanoma increased by 800 percent among young women and 400 percent among young men.(9)

  • One person dies of melanoma every hour (every 57 minutes).(2)  

  • An estimated 76,690 new cases of invasive melanoma will be diagnosed in the US in 2013.(2)  

  • An estimated 9,480 people will die of melanoma in 2013.(2)  

  • Melanoma accounts for less than five percent of skin cancer cases, but the vast majority of skin cancer deaths.(2)  

  • Of the seven most common cancers in the US, melanoma is the only one whose incidence is increasing. Between 2000 and 2009, incidence climbed 1.9 percent annually.(5)

  • 1 in 50 men and women will be diagnosed with melanoma of the skin during their lifetime.(5)  

  • Survivors of melanoma are about nine times as likely as the general population to develop a new melanoma.(6)

  • Melanoma is the most common form of cancer for young adults 25-29 years old and the second most common form of cancer for young people 15-29 years old.(7)  

  • The overall 5-year survival rate for patients whose melanoma is detected early, before the tumor has spread to regional lymph nodes or other organs, is about 98 percent in the US. The survival rate falls to 62 percent when the disease reaches the lymph nodes, and 15 percent when the disease metastasizes to distant organs.(2)  

  • A person’s risk for melanoma doubles if he or she has had more than five sunburns.(10)  

  • One or more blistering sunburns in childhood or adolescence more than double a person’s chances of developing melanoma later in life.(8)  

  • Regular daily use of an SPF 15 or higher sunscreen reduces the risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma by 40 percent and the risk of developing melanoma by 50 percent.(11,12)

 

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Melanoma in Men/Women

  • Young men account for 40 percent of melanoma cases, but more than 60 percent of melanoma deaths.(13)  

  • From ages 15-39, men are 55 percent more likely to die of melanoma than women in the same age group.(13)  

  • An estimated 45,060 new cases of invasive melanoma in men and 31,630 in women will be diagnosed in the US in 2013.(2)  

  • An estimated 6,280 men and 3,200 women in the US will die from melanoma in 2013.(2)  

  • Up until age 40, significantly more women develop melanoma than men (1 in 391 women vs. 1 in 691 men). After age 40, significantly more men develop melanoma than women. Overall, one in 35 men and one in 54 women will develop melanoma in their lifetimes.(2)  

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Melanoma in Children

  • Pediatric melanoma increased by an average of two percent per year from 1973 to 2009.(14)  

  • Between 1973 and 2001, melanoma incidence in those under age 20 rose 2.9 percent.(15)  

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Tanning

  • Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a proven human carcinogen.(16)  

  • The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an affiliate of the World Health Organization, includes ultraviolet (UV) tanning devices in its Group 1, a list of the most dangerous cancer-causing substances. Group 1 also includes agents such as plutonium, cigarettes, and solar UV radiation.(17)  

  • Currently tanning beds are regulated by the FDA as Class I medical devices18, the same designation given elastic bandages and tongue depressors.(18)  

  • One indoor UV tanning session increases users’ risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma by 67 percent and basal cell carcinoma by 29 percent.(19)  

  • Indoor tanners have a 69 percent increased risk of early-onset basal cell carcinoma.(20)  

  • Approximately 25 percent of early-onset basal cell carcinomas could be avoided if individuals have never tanned indoors.(20) 

  • Frequent tanners using new high-pressure sunlamps may receive as much as 12 times the annual UVA dose compared to the dose they receive from sun exposure.(16)  

  • Just one indoor tanning session increases users’ chances of developing melanoma by 20 percent, and each additional session during the same year boosts the risk almost another two percent.(21) 

  • Of melanoma cases among 18-to-29-year-olds who had tanned indoors, 76 percent were attributable to tanning bed use.(22) 

  • People who first use a tanning bed before age 35 increase their risk for melanoma by 75 percent.(23)

  • The indoor tanning industry has annual estimated revenue of $5 billion.(24)  

  • Seventy-one percent of tanning salon patrons are females.(25)  

  • On an average day, more than one million Americans use tanning salons.(26)

 

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Sources

  1. Rogers, HW, Weinstock, MA, Harris, AR, et al. Incidence estimate of nonmelanoma skin cancer in the United States, 2006. Arch Dermatol 2010; 146(3):283-287.

  2. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2013. http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/content/@epidemiologysurveilance/documents/document/acspc-036845.pdf. Accessed January 31, 2013.

  3. Stern, RS. Prevalence of a history of skin cancer in 2007: results of an incidence-based model. Arch Dermatol 2010; 146(3):279-282.

  4. Robinson, JK. Sun exposure, sun protection, and vitamin D. JAMA 2005; 294:1541-43.

  5. Howlader N, Noone AM, Krapcho M, et al (eds). SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2009 (Vintage 2009 Populations). Bethesa, MD: National Cancer Institute; http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2009_pops09/; Accessed August 22, 2012.

  6. Bradford PT, Freedman DM, Goldstein AM, Tucker MA. Increased risk of secondary primary cancers after a diagnosis of melanoma. Arch Dermatol 2010; 146(3):265-272.

  7. Bleyer A, O’Leary M, Barr R, Ries LAG (eds): Cancer epidemiology in older adolescents and young adults 15 to 29 years of age, including SEER incidence and survival: 1975-2000. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute; 2006.

  8. Lew RA, Sober AJ, Cook N, Marvell R, Fitzpatrick TB. Sun exposure habits in patients with cutaneous melanoma: a case study. J Dermatol Surg Onc 1983; 12:981-6.

  9. Reed KB, Brewer JD, Lohse CM, Bringe KE, Pruit CN, Gibson LE. Increasing Incidence of Melanoma Among Young Adults: An Epidemiological Study in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Mayo Clinic Proceedings 2012; 87(4):328-334.

  10. Pfahlberg A, Kolmel KF, Gefeller O.  Timing of excessive ultraviolet radiation and melanoma: epidemiology does not support the existence of a critical period of high susceptibility to solar ultraviolet radiation-induced melanoma. Brit J Dermatol March 2001; 144:3:471.

  11. Green A, Williams G, Neale R, et al. Daily sunscreen application and betacarotene supplementation in prevention of basal-cell and squamous-cell carcinoma of the skin: a randomized controlled trial. Lancet 1999; 354(9180):723-729.

  12. Green A, Williams G, Logan V, Strutton G. Reduced melanoma after regular sunscreen use: randomized trial follow-up. J Clin Oncol 2011; 29(3):257-263.

  13. Fisher D, Geller A. Disproportionate burden of melanoma mortality in young US men. JAMA Dermatol 2013; 1-2.

  14. Wong JR, Harris JK, Rodriguez-Galindo C, Johnson KJ, et al. Incidence of childhood and adolescent melanoma in the United States: 1973–2009. Pediatrics 2013 May; 131(5):846-54.

  15. Strous JJ, Fears TR, Tucker MA, Wayne AS. Pediatric melanoma: risk factor and survival analysis of the surveillance, epidemiology and end results database. J Clin Oncol 2005; 23:4735-41.

  16. National Toxicology Program. Report on Carcinogens, Twelfth Edition. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Toxicology Program. 2011: 429-430. http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/twelfth/profiles/UltravioletRadiationRelatedExposures.pdf. Accessed February 12, 2012.

  17. El Ghissassi, F. et al., Special report: policy. A review of human carcinogens—part D: radiation. The Lancet 2009; 10(8):751-752.

  18. US Food and Drug Administration. Learn if a medical device has been cleared by FDA for marketing. FDA. http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ResourcesforYou/Consumers/ucm142523.htm.   Accessed October 25, 2010.

  19. Wehner MR, Shive ML, Chren M-M, et al. Indoor tanning and non-melanoma skin cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 2012; 345:e5909.

  20. Ferrucci LM, Cartmel B, Molinaro AM, Leffell DJ, Bale AE, Mayne ST. Indoor tanning and risk of early-onset basal cell carcinoma. Journal of American Academy of Dermatology. 2011.

  21. Boniol M, Autier P, Boyle P, Gandini S. Cutaneous melanoma attributable to sunbed use: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ 2012; 345:e4757. doi: 10.1136/bmj.e4757 

  22. Cust AE, Armstrong BK, Goumas C, et al. Sunbed use during adolescence and early adulthood is associated with increased risk of early-onset melanoma. Int J Cancer 2010.

  23. Lazovich D, Vogel RI, Berwick M, Weinstock MA, Anderson KE, Warshaw EM. Indoor tanning and risk of melanoma: a case-control study in a highly-exposed population. Cancer Epidem Biomar Prev 2010 June; 19(6):1557-1568.

  24. Demierre MF.  Time for the national legislation of indoor tanning to protect minors.  Arch Dermatol 2003; 139:520-4.

  25. Swerdlow AJ, Weinstock MA.  Do tanning lamps cause melanoma? An epidemiologic assessment. J Amer Acad Dermatol 1998; 38:89-98.

  26. Spencer JM, Amonette RA. Indoor tanning: Risks, benefits, and future trends. J Am Acad Dermatol 1995; 33:288-98.

 

The preceding was adopted from the Skin Cancer Foundation's website of facts and statistics; it was last updated in October of 2013.

 

"These facts and statistics have been reviewed by David Polsky, MD, Assistant Professor of Dermatology and Pathology, New York University Medical Center and Steven Q. Wang, MD, Director of Dermatologic Surgery and Dermatology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Basking Ridge, NJ."

The Skin Cancer Foundation, SkinCancer.org, 212 725-5176

Want to give your skin a self-check? Watch this video to learn the ABCDE's to know if a potential spot on your skin may be cancerous. If you believe you have a worrisome spot, then please see a dermatologist as soon as possible before it gets any worse.

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