Thursday, September 29, 2011

Are YOU at risk for SKIN CANCER - Melanoma? CURRENT FACTS

Skin Cancer - MELANOMA - a scary word and thought. However, please remember that KNOWLEDGE is the best way to manage the negative impact of any disease/condition. The more you know, the better you can work with your health care team in eliminating and/or managing the negative impact of a disease/condition of ANY type.

So: here is the link to a website that contains the LATEST FACTS about Skin Cancer.

http://www.skincancer.org/Skin-Cancer-Facts/

Next, I've copied from this website the current SKIN CANCER FACTS.

After reading this information and checking out the website, if you believe that you yourself are at risk, please, please, please go see your primary care doctor IMMEDIATELY and get a referral to a Dermatologist for a review.

SKIN CANCER FACTS:

MELANOMA

* One person dies of melanoma every hour (every 62 minutes).2

* One in 55 people will be diagnosed with melanoma during their lifetime.14

* 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.15

* The survival rate for patients whose melanoma is detected early, before the tumor has penetrated the skin, is about 99 percent.16 The survival rate falls to 15 percent for those with advanced disease.2

* The vast majority of mutations found in melanoma are caused by ultraviolet radiation.12

* The incidence of many common cancers is falling, but the incidence of melanoma continues to rise at a rate faster than that of any of the seven most common cancers.17 Between 1992 and 2004, melanoma incidence increased 45 percent, or 3.1 percent annually.18

* An estimated 123,590 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in the US in 2011 — 53,360 noninvasive (in situ) and 70,230 invasive, with nearly 8,790 resulting in death.19

* Melanoma accounts for less than five percent of skin cancer cases,20 but it causes more than 75 percent of skin cancer deaths.21

* Survival with melanoma increased from 49 percent (1950 – 1954) to 92 percent (1996 – 2003).22

* Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer for males and sixth most common for females.2

* Women aged 39 and under have a higher probability of developing melanoma than any other cancer except breast cancer.2

* About 65 percent of melanoma cases can be attributed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.23

* One or more blistering sunburns in childhood or adolescence more than double a person’s chances of developing melanoma later in life.24

* A person’s risk for melanoma doubles if he or she has had more than five sunburns at any age.25

* Survivors of melanoma are about nine times as likely as the general population to develop a new melanoma.26