Skin Cancer Statistics

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. The following statistics refer to melanomas of the skin. Non-epithelial skin cancers, which are not reflected below, represent 7% of skin cancers that are tracked by central cancer registries. These statistics also do not include data for basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, which are not tracked by central cancer registries.

In 2007 (the most recent year numbers are available)—

• 58,094 people in the United States were diagnosed with melanomas of the skin, including 33,041 men and 25,053 women.*†
• 8,461 people in the United States died from melanomas of the skin, including 5,506 men and 2,955 women.*†

*Incidence counts cover approximately 99% of the U.S. population. Death counts cover 100% of the U.S. population. Use caution in comparing incidence and death counts.

†Source: U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 1999–2007 Incidence and Mortality Web-based Report. Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and National Cancer Institute; 2010. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/uscs. (full site)