Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, yet most cases are preventable.

New research shows that between the years of 2002 and 2011…

• The number of people TREATED for skin cancer increased from 3.4 million to 4.9 million.

• The average annual COST of skin cancer treatment increased from $3.6 billion to $8.1 billion.

• The annual cost for all skin cancer treatments increased by 126%.

Skin Cancer is a serious public health concern.

Use sun protection strategies that work.

Infographic associated with press released realing to: Guy GP, Machlin SR, Ekwueme UE, Yabroff, RY. Prevalence and costs of skin cancer treatment in the U.S., 2002−2006 and 2007−2011. Am J Prev Med. 2014 Nov;47(5):in press. Published Online: November 09, 2014.

The report studied skin cancer data on adults between 2002 and 2011 using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The researchers created two 5-year periods of data from 2002-2006 and 2007-2011 to allow for a comparison over time and to improve the precision of the estimates. The average annual number of adults treated for skin cancer increased from 3.4 million in 2002-2006 to 4.9 million in 2007-2011.

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Stephen B. Thacker CDC Library collection

United States