ore than one million skin cancers are diagnosed in the United States every year. An equal opportunity cancer, skin cancer can affect people of any race, sex or age. In fact, melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is the second most common cancer in women aged 20 to 29.
Both basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma have a better than 95 percent five-year survival rate if detected and treated early.
One American dies of melanoma almost every hour.
The five-year survival rate for melanoma detected at all stages increased from 82 percent between 1975 and 1977 to 92 percent between 1996 and 2002.
More than 75 percent of skin cancer deaths are from melanoma.
