• 90% or more of melanoma is caused by ultraviolet raditation either from the sun or tanning salons 
• Melanoma is epidemic: rising faster than any other cancer and projected to affect one person in 50 by 2010, currently it affects 1 in 75. In 1935, only one in 1500 was struck by the disease.
• This year, 59,940 Americans will be diagnosed and 8,110 will die from the disease.
• One person dies every hour from melanoma.
• Melanoma is the most common cancer in women ages 25-29 and second only to breast cancer in women 30-34.
• Sunburn at any age causes melanoma
• Melanoma costs over $740 million dollars annually
• Melanoma happens almost equally in the sexes: in 2003, 29,900 men had melanoma and 24,300 women had melanoma.
• The death rate from melanoma for men is almost twice that of women due to late detection
• Doctors don't regularly screen for melanoma and patients often find their own so go to our "Examine Your Skin" page to do yours NOW!
• Early detection survival rate is nearly 99%
• Nearly 30 million people tan in tanning salons annually
• Exposure to tanning lamps before age 35 increases melanoma risk by 75%
• New high-pressure sunlamps emit doses of UVR that is 15 times that of the sun
• The indoor tanning industry has an estimated revenue of $5 billion.

Modified: 1/08
Sources:  National Cancer Institute 2007 SEER Database
American Cancer Society's 2007 Facts and Figures, The Skin Cancer Foundation, The American Academy of Dermatology, Melanoma: Prevention Detection and Treatment: New Haven: Yale University Press. 2005.