Skin Cancer Trends

Non-melanoma skin cancer cases increasing.
The CBS Evening News (3/15, story 6, 0:20, Couric) reported that "there has been a dramatic rise of certain types of skin cancer in older Americans. A new study of people on Medicare found that in just four years the number of procedures to treat non-melanoma skin cancers jumped about 77%. Researchers say the rise of sunbathing and tanning after World War II may have contributed to the increase."
Bloomberg News (3/16, Ostrow) reports, "The number of Americans treated for non-melanoma skin cancer increased 14.3 percent from 2002 to 2006, according to" a study published March 16 in the Archives of Dermatology. In 2006 alone, researchers "estimated there were more than 3.5 million non-melanoma skin cancers in the US...and about 2.1 million people were treated for the malignancy that year." In a March 12 interview, dermatologist and study author Howard Rogers, MD, PhD, stated, "There's an epidemic of skin cancer," which he attributed to a continued "lack of appreciation of the danger of going out in the sun."