Skin Cancer Facts

Did you know that skin cancer is the most common cancer? About 3.3 million Americans are diagnosed each year. Melanoma, the most deadly type of skin cancer, will account for more than 76,000 cases of skin cancer by the end of 2016.

What are the risk factors for skin cancer?

• Overexposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight or tanning beds and lamps
  
• Pale skin which is easily sunburned and doesn’t tan much or at all, as well as naturally red or blond hair
  
• Overexposure to coal tar, paraffin, and arsenic compounds—often on the job
  
• A family history of skin cancer
  
• Having multiple or unusual moles
  
• Experiencing a severe sunburn in the past
• Having a weakened immune system
  

What are the signs and symptoms of skin cancer?

• Any change upon your skin—particularly a change in the size or color of a mole or growth, or a new growth (which may be colorless)
  
• Any scaliness, roughness, bleeding, oozing or change in the way a patch of skin appears
  
• A sore that will not heal
  
• The spread of pigment beyond its border, like dark coloring that spreads past the edge of a mole or other mark
  
• Any change in sensation, including itchiness, tenderness, or pain
  

What steps have you taken this summer to learn more about skin cancer or raise awareness about the signs to watch out for? Head over to our Facebook page and let us know!