The deadliest cancer of the skin is cutaneous melanoma. In 2017 over 160,000 Americans are expected to be diagnosed with melanoma, and over half will have invasive disease, or one that has gone beyond the skin and which carries greater risk of recurrence. About 9,700 people are expected to die from melanoma this year.
Unlike most common cancers, such as breast and lung cancer, the incidence of melanoma continues to increase, mainly in young people below the age of 30. There has been a more than 50 percent increase in melanoma in young women since 1980.
The vast majority of melanomas are caused by exposure to UV light from sun or indoor tanning. Reducing these exposures by changing habits or using sun protection — sun screens and clothing coverage — is the best way to avoid melanoma and other skin cancers.
As a researcher who studies what makes melanoma spread, or metastasize, I’m acutely aware of how hard this deadly cancer is to tame. To be sure, advances have been made. Former President Jimmy Carter – probably the most high-profile melanoma survivor in history – benefited from new treatments resulting from immunotherapy, a technique my lab and many others are using to combat cancer.
