Morbidity Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, with nearly five million people treated each year. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of their lifetime. The number of new cases each year exceeds the number of people diagnosed with breast, colon, lung, and prostate cancers combined. In 2014, about 76,100 new cases of invasive melanoma will be diagnosed. Among the most common cancers in the United States, melanoma is the only one whose incidence is increasing, with an annual increase of 1.9% from 2000 to 2009. Forty percent of melanoma cases occur in young men. An estimated 43,890 new cases of invasive melanoma in men and 32,210 in women will be diagnosed in 2014. Women, ag 39 and under, …show more content…
Among Caucasians, North Carolina has the fifth highest nationwide rate of new melanoma diagnoses. An estimated 2,620 residents were diagnoses with melanoma in 2013 (facts about: Skin Cancer). In California, skin cancer is the fifth most common cancer among Caucasians. The rate of new diagnoses of melanoma has increased over the past decade among Caucasians. In 2009, 9,080 residents were diagnosed with melanoma (facts about: Skin Cancer, 2012). Melanoma is more common among non-Hispanic whites than any other ethnicity, with nine out of ten cases of melanoma diagnoses occurring in non-Hispanics whites. Between 1999 and 2011, the rate of melanoma ranged from 21,500 to 28,000 out of 100,000 among Caucasian men. The rate for Caucasian women ranged from 13,500 to 19,000 (Skin Cancer Statistics, 2012). Skin cancer comprises 1-2% of all cancers among African Americans (Skin Cancer facts, 2014). The incidence rate among African-American men was 1,000 out of 100,000. For African-American women, the rate ranges from 1,000 to 1,500 (Skin Cancer Statistics, 2012).