Skin cancer (melanoma)
How common is melanoma?
More and more people are being diagnosed with the skin cancer called melanoma, but we're not sure why.
- About 60,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with melanoma each year.
Source:
American Cancer Society.
Estimated new cancer cases and deaths by sex for all sites, US, 2007.
Available at http://www.cancer.org/downloads/stt/CFF2007EstCsDths07.pdf (accessed on 14 August 2008).
1 - Around 8,000 people die of it.
Source:
American Cancer Society.
Estimated new cancer cases and deaths by sex for all sites, US, 2007.
Available at http://www.cancer.org/downloads/stt/CFF2007EstCsDths07.pdf (accessed on 14 August 2008).
1 - Americans have about a 1 in 70 chance of getting melanoma at some point in their life.
Source:
Lamberg L.
"Epidemic" of malignant melanoma: true increase or better detection?
Journal of the American Medical Association. 2002; 287: 2201.
2
Source:
Lamberg L.
"Epidemic" of malignant melanoma: true increase or better detection?
Journal of the American Medical Association. 2002; 287: 2201.
Lamberg L.
"Epidemic" of malignant melanoma: true increase or better detection?
Journal of the American Medical Association. 2002; 287: 2201.
Source:
Armstrong BK, Kricker A.
Cutaneous melanoma.
Cancer Surveys. 1994;19-20:219-40.
Armstrong BK, Kricker A.
Cutaneous melanoma.
Cancer Surveys. 1994;19-20:219-40.
But it's probably also true that more people are getting melanomas. There are different ideas about why this may be happening. It may be because:
- People are living longer and getting melanomas when they are older
Source:
Lamberg L.
"Epidemic" of malignant melanoma: true increase or better detection?
Journal of the American Medical Association. 2002; 287: 2201.
2 -
Holes in the ozone layer are letting more damaging sun rays through the atmosphere
Source:
Martini FH, Ober WC, Garrison CW, et al.
Fundamentals of anatomy and physiology.
5th edition. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, USA; 2001.
4 - People are spending more time in the sun.
Source:
Lotze MT, Ramsey DM, Kirkwood JM, et al.
Cutaneous melanoma.
In: DeVita VT, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA (editors). Cancer: principles and practice of oncology. 6th edition. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, London, UK; 2003.
5
The good news is that the number of people dying from melanoma is not going up as fast as the number of people being diagnosed. This may be because we're finding melanomas earlier, when there's a good chance that they can be cured.
5 But it's also possible that some of the new melanomas we're finding are a kind that never would have spread anyway.
3
Source:
Lotze MT, Ramsey DM, Kirkwood JM, et al.
Cutaneous melanoma.
In: DeVita VT, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA (editors). Cancer: principles and practice of oncology. 6th edition. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, London, UK; 2003.
Lotze MT, Ramsey DM, Kirkwood JM, et al.
Cutaneous melanoma.
In: DeVita VT, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA (editors). Cancer: principles and practice of oncology. 6th edition. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, London, UK; 2003.
Source:
Armstrong BK, Kricker A.
Cutaneous melanoma.
Cancer Surveys. 1994;19-20:219-40.
Armstrong BK, Kricker A.
Cutaneous melanoma.
Cancer Surveys. 1994;19-20:219-40.
Sources for the information on this page:
- American Cancer Society.Estimated new cancer cases and deaths by sex for all sites, US, 2007.Available at http://www.cancer.org/downloads/stt/CFF2007EstCsDths07.pdf (accessed on 14 August 2008).
- Lamberg L."Epidemic" of malignant melanoma: true increase or better detection?Journal of the American Medical Association. 2002; 287: 2201.
- Armstrong BK, Kricker A.Cutaneous melanoma.Cancer Surveys. 1994;19-20:219-40.
- Martini FH, Ober WC, Garrison CW, et al.Fundamentals of anatomy and physiology.5th edition. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, USA; 2001.
- Lotze MT, Ramsey DM, Kirkwood JM, et al.Cutaneous melanoma.In: DeVita VT, Hellman S, Rosenberg SA (editors). Cancer: principles and practice of oncology. 6th edition. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, London, UK; 2003.
This information was last updated on Sep 01, 2008
This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2009. All rights reserved.
© BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2009. All rights reserved.
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