Fast Facts About Skin Cancer
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, 80 percent of a person’s lifetime exposure to ultraviolet radiation occurs before the ages of 18 to 20.
* Children’s skin is especially sensitive to direct sunlight because they don’t have as many pigment cells as adults do. Children burn faster, and cumulative skin damage starts with the first exposure.
* Experts say that one bad sunburn in childhood could double the risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, later in life.
* In the United States in 2003, one in 65 people had a lifetime risk of getting the disease; it is projected that by 2010, one in 50 Americans will be afflicted by melanoma.
* It is the second most common cancer in women between the ages of 20 and 35 and the leading cause of cancer death in women ages 25 to 30.
· The incidence of basal cell skin cancer in North America is going up by 5 per cent a year.
· A child born in 1994 now has a 28 percent to 33 percent lifetime risk of developing basil skin cancer.
Sources:
1. American Cancer Association
2. American Academy of Dermatology (AAD)
3. Canadian Dermatology Association http://www.dermatology.ca/english/sun/facts_e.html
4. Department of Human Services: CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/nscpep/awareness.htm
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