Skin Cancer (Cutaneous Oncology) Program

Patient and Family Education

Melanoma

Incidence and Risk Factors

The number of cases of melanoma that are diagnosed yearly in the United States has been steadily increasing. In 2008, it is estimated that there will be 62,480 new cases of melanoma diagnosed. The estimated lifetime risk of developing melanoma is 1 in 74.

As with other cancers, there are risk factors for the development of melanoma. Some of these are environmental, while others are genetic. Some of the risk factors for the development of melanoma are as follows:

Skin type: People who are of white racial background are up to 10 times more likely to develop melanoma than those of other racial groups. In addition, white people with red hair and blue eyes seem to be at a particularly high risk for developing melanoma.

Sun exposure: Intermittent or recreational exposure to sunlight, especially with a history or severe, blistering sunburns, increases a person’s risk of developing melanoma. People with a history of at least 10 blistering sunburns are two times more likely to develop melanoma. Exposure to ultraviolet light by using tanning beds also increases melanoma risk.

Family history: The risk of developing melanoma is increased in people with a family member with melanoma and this risk appears to increase if two or more family members are affected.

Personal history: People who have been diagnosed with one melanoma are at an increased risk for developing a second melanoma. This risk of developing a second melanoma is 900 times that of the general population.

Moles: People with more than 50 normal moles or people with many atypical moles are more likely to develop melanoma.

Gender: While equal numbers of men and women under the age of 50 are diagnosed with melanoma, in patients older than 50, more men are diagnosed with melanoma than women. Therefore, overall, men are 1.7 times more likely to develop melanoma than women.

Age: As people get older, the risk of developing melanoma increases.

This page was last updated on: October 19, 2009.