Frequently Asked Questions

Which country has the highest incidence of Melanoma?
Australia.

What percentage of people with melanoma die from it?
16 percent

What is the best warning sign of melanoma?
Varied colors in a mole.

Melanoma often develops from which skin irregularities?
Moles

Most of a person’s lifetime sun damage to the skin occurs before what age?
Age 18

Once melanoma spreads to lymph nodes, what are the chances of surviving?
50 to 70 percent

Although melanoma occurs primarily on the skin, where else can it originate?
The eye

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends wearing sunscreen if you plan to be in the sun for how long?
More than 20 minutes

Sun Protection Factor (SPF) measures a sunscreen’s ability to protect the skin from which of these?
UVB rays

10 Facts about Melanoma

1. Melanoma is the fastest growing cancer in the United States.
2. There have been no significant advances in medical treatment or in survival rate in the last 30 years.
3. Melanoma cases are increasing at an epidemic rate of 3% each year.
4. In the United States there are as many new cases of melanoma each year than there are of AIDS.
5. Melanoma is the 6th most common cancer in the United States.
6. Melanoma is the most common cancer in men and women between the ages of 20 and 29.
7. There were 59,000 new cases of melanoma in the United States in 2005
8. In women between the ages of  25-29 melanoma is the primary cause of cancer death and in women 30-35 it is the second most common cause of cancer death.
9. In the United States the chances of getting melanoma in 1940 was 1 in 1500. By 2004, it was 1 in 67. By 2010, scientists  predict it will be 1 in 50.
10. If caught in the early stages, melanoma is completely treatable with a survival rate of nearly 100%. If untreated and allowed to spread, there is no cure.