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Each year more than a million people in the United States are diagnosed with the most common forms of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. These two diseases are most often grouped as non-melanoma skin cancers.
The American Cancer Society estimates that about 1.3 million new cases of non-melanoma skin cancers will be diagnosed in the United States this year, making these two combined the most common cancer in the United States.
Most people who are diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancers are age 50 or older, but because these diseases often are a result of too much exposure to the sun, everyone -- even the youngest toddlers -- should take precautions against them.
Sunlight & Skin Cancer
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is the single most important cause of skin cancer, especially when the overexposure resulted in sunburn and blistering. Other, less common causes of skin cancer include repeated exposure to x-rays and exposure to coal tar, arsenic, and other industrial compounds.
Sunlight provides much that is beneficial and even necessary to life and good health. Tanning and burning, however, are not among those benefits -- there is no such thing as a "healthy tan."
Over the past decade, researchers have discovered that the tanning response begins only after DNA in skin cells has been damaged by exposure to sunlight. Although the exact wavelengths and timing of the solar radiation associated with different types of skin cancer are under investigation, the basic preventive lesson remains the same: protect your skin from the sun.
Fortunately there are ways to prevent most non-melanoma skin cancers and to detect them early when they do arise. When treated early, the vast majority of these cancers are curable.
