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.
Each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, and colon.
One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.
Over the past 31 years, more people have had skin cancer than all other cancers combined.
About 90 percent of nonmelanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
Treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancers increased by nearly 77 percent between 1992 and 2006. Asian American and African American melanoma patients have a greater tendency than Caucasians to present with advanced disease at time of diagnosis.
As few as 48 percent of melanomas in African Americans are diagnosed at an early stage, compared to 74 percent in Hispanics and 84 percent in Caucasians.
The overall melanoma survival rate for African Americans is only 77 percent, versus 91 percent for Caucasians.