Skin Cancer: More Facts
INDOOR TANNING
• Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a proven human carcinogen. Currently tanning beds are regulated by the FDA as Class I medical devices, the same designation given elastic bandages and tongue depressors.
• The International Agency for Research on Cancer, an affiliate of the World Health Organization, includes ultraviolet (UV) tanning devices in its Group 1, a list of the most dangerous cancer-causing substances. Group 1 also includes agents such as plutonium, cigarettes, and solar UV radiation.
• Frequent tanners using new high-pressure sunlamps may receive as much as 12 times the annual UVA dose compared to the dose they receive from sun exposure.
• Ten minutes in a sunbed matches the cancer-causing effects of 10 minutes in the Mediterranean summer sun.
• Nearly 30 million people tan indoors in the U.S. every year; 2.3 million of them are teens.
• On an average day, more than one million Americans use tanning salons.
• Seventy-one percent of tanning salon patrons are girls and women aged 16-29.
• Indoor ultraviolet (UV) tanners are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than those who have never tanned indoors.
• People who use tanning beds are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma.
• The indoor tanning industry has an annual estimated revenue of $5 billion.
PEDIATRICS
• Melanoma accounts for up to three percent of all pediatric cancers.
• Between 1973 and 2001, melanoma incidence in those under age 20 rose 2.9 percent.
• Melanoma is seven times more common between the ages of 10 and 20 than it is between birth and 10 years.
• Diagnoses — and treatment — are delayed in 40 percent of childhood melanoma cases.
• Ninety percent of pediatric melanoma cases occur in girls aged 10-19.
ETHNICITY
• Asian American and African American melanoma patients have a greater tendency than Caucasians to present with advanced disease at time of diagnosis.
• Skin cancer comprises one to two percent of all cancers in African Americans and Asian Indians.
• While melanoma is uncommon in African Americans, Latinos, and Asians, it is frequently fatal for these populations. • As few as 48 percent of melanomas in African Americans are diagnosed at an early stage, compared to 74 percent in Hispanics and 84 percent in Caucasians.
• The overall melanoma survival rate for African Americans is only 77 percent, versus 91 percent for Caucasians. • Melanomas in African Americans, Asians, Filipinos, Indonesians, and native Hawaiians most often occur on non-exposed skin with less pigment, with up to 60-75 percent of tumors arising on the palms, soles, mucous membranes and nail regions.
• Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cancer in Caucasians, Hispanics, Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian populations.
• Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the most common skin cancer among African Americans and Asian Indians.
• Squamous cell carcinomas in African Americans tend to be more aggressive and are associated with a 20-40 percent risk of metastasis (spreading).
• Skin cancer represents approximately 2-4 percent of all cancers in Asians.
• Among non-Caucasians, melanoma is a higher risk for children than adults: 6.5 percent of pediatric melanomas occur in non-Caucasians.
AGING/SUN DAMAGE
• Up to 90 percent of the visible changes commonly attributed to aging are caused by the sun.
• Contrary to popular belief, 80 percent of a person’s lifetime sun exposure is not acquired before age 18; only about 23 percent of lifetime exposure occurs by age 18. Lifetime UV Exposure in the United States Ages Average Accumulated Exposure* 1-18 22.73 percent 19-40 46.53 percent 41-59 73.7 percent 60-78 100 percent *Based on a 78 year lifespan
TREATMENT COSTS
• In 2004, the total direct cost associated with the treatment for nonmelanoma skin cancer was $1.5 billion.
• The number of nonmelanoma skin cancers in the Medicare population went up an average of 4.2 percent every year between 1992 and 2006.
• In adults 65 or older, melanoma treatment costs total about $249 million annually. About 40 percent of the annual cost for melanoma goes to treating stage IV (advanced) cancers, though they account for only three percent of melanomas. Published by the Skin Cancer Foundation