Quick Facts

  1. Half of all new cancers are skin cancers.
  2. About one million new cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year.
  3. About 80 percent of the new cases will be basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (about 800,000 cases).
  4. Both basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma have a better than 95 percent cure rate if detected and treated early.
  5. About 1,200 people died of basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma in 1996.
  6. There were about 38,300 new cases of malignant melanoma in 1996, a 12% increase from 1995.
  7. 7,300 deaths were attributed to malignant melanoma in 1996. Of these deaths, 4,600 were men, 2,700 women.
  8. Older Caucasian males have the highest mortality rates.
  9. The incidence of malignant melanoma doubled among whites between 1973 and 1991.
  10. 6 out of 7 skin cancer deaths are from malignant melanoma.
  11. Melanoma is more common than any non-skin cancer among people between 25 and 29 years old.

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