Incidence

Melanoma is less common in histology types of skin cancer than basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, but it is the most serious -- for example, in the UK there are 9,500 new cases of melanoma each year, and 2,300 deaths. More people now die of Melanoma in the UK than in Australia. It is the most common skin cancer in the young population (20 – 39 age group). It is estimated that approximately 85% of cases are caused by too much sun.

Non-melanoma skin cancers are the most common skin cancers. The majority of these are called Basal Cell Carcinomas. These are usually localised growths caused by excessive cumulative exposure to the sun and do not tend to spread.