10 Facts About Melanoma

In a recent survey by the Center for Disease Control, 74% of young adults and 50% of older adults said that they had little or no knowledge about melanoma.

Here are some facts you should know.

• Melanoma is now the fastest growing cancer in the U.S.

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• There have been no significant advances in the medical treatment or survival rate in the last 30 years.

• Melanoma cases are increasing at an epidemic rate of 3% a year.

• In the U.S. there are as many new cases of melanoma each year than there are of AIDS.

• There were 59,000 new case of melanoma in the U.S. in 2005.

• Melanoma is the sixth most common cancer in the U.S.

• Melanoma is the most common cancer in men and women ages 20-29.

• In women 25-29, melanoma is the primary cause of cancer death, and in women 30-34 it is the second most common cause of cancer death.

• In the U.S. your chance of getting melanoma in 1940 was 1 in 1500. By 2004, it was 1 in 67. By 2010, scientists predict it will be 1 in 50.

• If caught in the earliest stages, melanoma is entirely treatable with a survival rate of nearly 100%. If untreated and allowed to spread, there is no known treatment or cure.