- ♦ Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S.
- ♦ Two categories of skin cancer are:
- -non-melanoma – basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma
- -melanoma – less common, but more likely to be life-threatening than either basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma
- ♦ Nationally, more than one million cases of non-melanoma skin cancers are diagnosed each year. Skin cancers account for almost half of all new cancers diagnosed.
- ♦ More than 200 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in New Mexicans each year.
- ♦ Approximately 40 New Mexicans die of melanoma each year.
- ♦ A special 12-month survey conducted by the New Mexico Tumor Registry in 1998-99 found more than 12,000 non-melanoma skin cancers diagnosed in 7,887 New Mexicans. (New Mexico law requires that most types of cancer be reported to the New Mexico Tumor Registry; however, non-melanoma skin cancers are not required to be reported.)
- ♦ A history of severe, blistering sunburns increases the risk for developing basal cell carcinoma.
- ♦ Long-term exposure to UV radiation is a risk factor for squamous cell carcinoma.
- ♦ A history of one or more severe, blistering sunburns as a child or adolescent doubles the risk for developing melanoma.
- ♦ Non-melanoma skin cancers (basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma) are cured in 85-95 percent of all cases.
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