<\/p>\n
Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in the United States and, according to the American Cancer Society\u2019s (ACA) new annual report, it\u2019s on the rise: The organization estimates that the number of new melanoma cases diagnosed in 2026 will be 10.6 percent higher than in 2025.<\/p>\n
Now, this isn\u2019t exactly something to freak out about\u2014at least not yet. Deborah S. Sarnoff, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and president of The Skin Cancer Foundation, says that advancements in dermoscopy (non-invasive skin imaging) and other new technologies contribute to higher rates of diagnoses for melanoma. Better tools (and hopefully, more frequent skin checks) mean more cases that might not have been caught otherwise. But, she adds, \u201cWe also have an aging population here in the United States, and as people live longer with cumulative sun exposure, their chances of developing skin cancer are higher.\u201d It\u2019s true: A sunburn you got as a teenager can, in fact, be part of the reason why you receive a skin cancer diagnosis today.<\/p>\n
The report also reveals that in the past decade, the number of new invasive melanoma cases diagnosed annually increased by 46.6 percent, which Dr. Sarnoff calls \u201calarming.\u201d Almost 90 percent of melanomas, she says, are linked to UV radiation, mostly from good old-fashioned sun exposure but also from indoor tanning. \u201cWe now have a population that tried tanning beds for the first time as young adults who are now reaching midlife and dealing with this potentially life-threatening disease as a consequence of exposure to high levels of UV radiation earlier in life,” says Dr. Sarnoff.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the new generation hasn\u2019t necessarily learned from the previous ones\u2019 mistakes. Gen Z\u2019s infatuation with crisping up in artificial sunlight could also be contributing to the rise in skin cancer. The trend continues despite years of evidence of the dangers of tanning beds, including a study published just this past December out of Northwestern Medicine and the University of California, San Francisco, which found that tanning bed usage triples the risk of skin cancer and that UV light from tanning beds causes \u201cmelanoma-linked DNA damage across nearly the entire skin surface.\u201d<\/p>\n
While that sounds bleak, do keep in mind that more people are surviving the deadliest form of the disease\u2014invasive melanoma\u2014than ever before. The ACA report also states that mortality rates have dropped two to three percent a year over the last decade, thanks to advances in treatment and increased awareness about skin cancer.<\/p>\n
Although factors like genetics can increase your risk of getting skin cancer, there are many measures you can take to protect yourself\u2014like limiting your time in direct sunlight, wearing an SPF 30 (or higher!) every day, and staying far, far away from tanning beds. And please, please don\u2019t put off getting your skin checked. \u201cWhen caught in its earliest stages, melanoma has a 99 percent survival rate,\u201d Dr. Sarnoff says. \u201cSo please, see your dermatologist for an annual skin exam\u2014or more often if you’re at high risk\u2014and check your skin monthly for anything new, changing or unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n
More news to know:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in the United States and, according to the American Cancer Society\u2019s (ACA) new annual report, it\u2019s on the rise: The organization estimates that the number of new melanoma cases diagnosed in 2026 will be 10.6 percent higher than in 2025. Now, this isn\u2019t exactly something […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beauty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}