The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released its newest report of the current status of melanoma or skin cancer rates in the United States. Apparently, CDC tallied a total of 65,647 new cases of melanoma in 2011, which worked out to 19.7 new cases per 100,000 Americans. It has doubled for the last 30 years.
Melanoma is the most aggressive and deadliest type of skin cancer. They report that the incidence rates continue to rise as risk behaviors are still high. In fact, 9,000 people die from this type of cancer every year, reports Seattle Times.
According to the United States Cancer Statistics, they were able to provide cancer incidence statistics in each state by utilizing data from the National Program of Cancer Registries and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program.
They found out that in 2011, more than 65,000 invasive melanomas of the skin were reported in the country and its occurrence rate 19.7 per 100,000. Also, they discovered that the incidence is higher in women than in men for people ages 15-49 years old while for those who are 50 years old and above, it is higher in men.
There are many risk factors in developing skin cancer specifically melanoma. Some of the factors are preventable but many can be prevented. Risk factors include exposure to ultraviolet rays, presence of moles, having fair skin and freckles, family history of melanoma, weakened immune system, older age, male gender and Xeroderma pigmentosum.
If the trends would continue, they projected that the total number of new melanoma cases would rise to 112,000 by 2030 if the risk factors would not be prevented. In Australia, they were able to prevent cases as they implemented many programs for melanoma. The same program was adopted in the US to prevent the continuous rise in cases in the next years.