One of the most common types of cancer is skin cancer. At least 40% of Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer at least once in their life, if they live to be sixty five! There are a lot of reasons that skin cancer is so prevalent. Fashion pressure, peer pressure, occupations, geography and extracurricular activities all play a role in the amount of sun we get, which directly affects how at risk we are to skin cancer. Having said all this, it is a large comfort to know that most skin cancers are not serious, meaning they are not fatal. They are usually easily removed with a simple procedure done in a doctor's office. If you think you might have skin cancer, don't put off getting it checked out because it can spread, which could mean more surgery. And if you have Melanoma, which is the most serious of the skin cancers and you don't get it checked out, it will spread and this skin cancer can be fatal. So don't wait.

The most common way to get skin cancer is by getting too much sun. When you get too much sun, you are exposing your skin to very harmful UV or ultraviolet rays. One way people stand a greater risk of skin cancer is by driving. In America, we drive on the left side of the vehicle. When driving, the left side of your body, for the driver, is exposed to the sun. An interesting fact is that the windshield is the only glass on a vehicle that is designed to block both UVA and UVB rays. The side and rear windows only block out the UVB rays. UVA rays are the ultraviolet rays that cause skin cancer. UVB rays are the ultraviolet rays that cause sun burning. Another interesting fact is that children are usually solely in the back seat areas of vehicles. This is the area that the windows don't block UVA rays. People already get 60-80% of their total lifetime exposure to the sun when they are a child. We don't need to add to that exposure while they are in a vehicle. The potential for children and other passengers to be at risk for skin cancer is high. So you might consider some sort of tinting that blocks the UVA rays on the other windows of your vehicle.

If you are into sports that spend a lot of their time in the sun, then you could be putting yourself at greater risk for getting skin cancer. One example of this is a marathon runner. I know this is an extreme example, but the required clothing worn for training and performing is minimal. Because of this minimalism, the skin is exposed to the sun longer than other professions or extracurricular activities. Sweating is a given, and if you don't apply sun protection repeatedly, it could prove risky for your skin. Also, when training for a marathon, your immune system is a bit weaker than normal and, with this weakened immune system, you are at an increased risk for some types of skin cancer, including Melanoma.

What exactly is Melanoma? What if you are related to someone who has Melanoma? What are your chances of developing Melanoma? These might be some of the questions you may ask yourself if you or someone you are related to have been diagnosed with Melanoma skin cancer.

First, let me identify the three most common types of skin cancer: Basal Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma, and Melanoma. Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer, making up 70-80 % of skin cancer cases in men, and 80-90% skin cancer cases in women. Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common type of skin cancer, making up about 10-30% of the skin cancer cases in America. Melanoma is the most serious of these three types of skin cancer. The most dangerous thing about Melanoma skin cancer is it can spread. The reason this is so bad is not only is the surgery more extensive, but if the cancer spreads to the lymph system or internal organs, it can be fatal. In the United States, someone dies from Melanoma skin cancer every hour. The sad part is that 95% of all Melanoma cases can be cured if caught early!

So you read the literature out there on skin cancers and how to prevent them. You have learned about applying sun screen and the importance of it in regard to UVA and UVB rays. The UVA rays are the harmful ones to your skin, leaving the potential for skin cancer. The UVB rays give you the sun burn, reminding you of your inattentiveness of applying the sun screen. You know that sun screen does not have the rating for UVA protection on the bottle so you have to get one that has at least an SPF of 15, preferably one that protects against both UVA/UVB rays. You've learned that your clothing has a lot to do with added protection from the sun; and you know that wearing a wet shirt is the equivalent of not having any shirt on at all. You know to get a wide brimmed hat because it covers your entire face and neck, not just your forehead and nose like the popular baseball caps.

After all this you learn that 5-10% of all cases of Melanoma are inherited. Does this mean you are doomed? No. But you do need to know that you have a 50/50 chance of getting Melanoma if one of your parents has it. Science has detected the gene that causes about 40% of all hereditary Melanoma. There are other inherited genes that affect our skin like Gorlin's syndrome and xeroderma pigmentosum. But what most people inherit is the gene that has been mutated and is an unregulated growth of the melanocytes, or the pigment forming cells in the skin. Melanoma is a skin cancer of the melanocytes. People with a mutation in this gene have a 50% risk of developing Melanoma some time in their life.

Although anyone can get skin cancer, some people are at higher risk than others. It's important to know if you are in one of the groups at increased risk, so that you can be especially scrupulous about protecting yourself from the sun, examining your skin regularly, and seeing a dermatologist if you notice any changes in your skin.

If you have spent a lot of time out in the sun and have not taken careful precautions to protect yourself (such as wearing sun protective clothing and hats and using sunscreen regularly), you are at increased risk of skin cancer. In fact, excessive exposure to the sun is the most important risk factor for skin cancer.

If you have an outdoor job or participate in outdoor sports, you may have an increased risk of skin cancer unless you have always been very careful to take precautions to protect yourself from the sun.

If you have had bad sunburns (bad enough to blister) even a few times in your life, you may be at increased risk of developing the serious melanoma skin cancer. Research indicates that both occasional, intense exposure to the sun and more frequent, less intense exposure increase melanoma risk.

If you have light-colored skin, especially the kind of skin that freckles, and have light-colored hair and blue, green, or gray eyes, you have at higher risk of skin cancer than people with darker pigmentation do. If you have fair skin, protecting yourself against the sun is especially important, not only because you are more susceptible than dark-skinned people to painful sunburns but also because you are more likely to develop skin cancer as a result of overexposure to the sun.

If you have many moles on your body (more than 50) or if you have atypical (unusual-looking) moles, you are at increased risk of melanoma. For you, regularly examining your skin and moles for changes and bringing any unusual-looking moles to the attention of your doctor is especially important.

If you have a family history of skin cancer, you may be at increased risk yourself. This is particularly true for melanoma, some cases of which are hereditary. There are also several hereditary diseases that increase people's risk of developing various forms of skin cancer, including basal cell nevus syndrome (also called Gorlin's syndrome) and xeroderma pigmentosum.

If your immune system is suppressed, either by drugs or disease, your risk of skin cancer is increased - in some instances, greatly increased. One group of people who have a greatly increased risk of skin cancer because of immune suppression is organ transplant recipients, who have to take drugs that suppress their immune systems in order to prevent their bodies from rejecting the transplants. People who are HIV-positive are also at increased risk of some skin cancers, including an unusual type of skin cancer called Kaposi sarcoma.

If you are a man, you have a higher risk of skin cancer than women do. In part, this may be because men are more likely to have outdoor occupations that expose them to the sun. It may also be because men are less likely than women to use sunscreen or take other measures to protect themselves from the sun. But there is also some scientific evidence (although it comes from experimental animals, rather than people) suggesting that merely being male may increase your skin cancer risk in some way.

If you are middle-aged or older, you have a higher risk of skin cancer than younger people do. Skin cancers are often the result of long-term overexposure to the sun. The older you are, the more sun exposure you have accumulated in your lifetime.

If you use indoor tanning equipment, you have an increased risk of skin cancer. Indoor tanning exposes you to ultraviolet rays, just as being out in the sun does, and therefore it increases your risk of skin cancer.

Skin cancer is a common disease, but it is also a highly preventable one. Here are some tips for reducing your chances of getting skin cancer.

- Protect yourself from the sun. Too much exposure to the sun is the most important risk factor for most types of skin cancer. When most people think about skin cancer sun protection, the first thing that comes to mind is sunscreen. But actually, using sunscreen is only one of the ways to protect yourself. Other good ideas include staying out of the sun as much as possible, especially between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun's rays are brightest; wearing protective clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts and long pants; and wearing a broad-brimmed hat to protect your head and ears and to shade your face from the sun.

- Don't use indoor tanning. Like going out in the sun, indoor tanning exposes you to harmful ultraviolet rays that damage your skin and increase your risk of skin cancer.

- Know your family history. If other people in your family have had skin cancer, you may be at increased risk of developing it as well. In this situation, it would be a good idea to make an appointment with a dermatologist to have your skin examined and to get professional advice on how to reduce your risk of skin cancer and how to detect it early if it does occur.

- Know your skin. If you have fair skin (especially the kind the freckles), with light hair and eyes, you are at higher risk of skin cancer than dark-skinned people are. If you have a lot of moles or if you have atypical (funny-looking) moles, you are at higher risk than most people of developing melanoma. In either of these instances, it's especially important to take precautions to protect yourself from the sun and to learn how to examine your skin for changes that may be indicative of skin cancer. If you examine your skin regularly, you may be able to spot abnormalities while they are still precancerous or to spot skin cancer early, when it's easy to treat.

- Know your medicines. If you take any prescription or nonprescription medications, read the labels or talk to your pharmacist to see whether the medicines may cause sun sensitivity. Exposure to the sun while you are taking a medicine that causes sun sensitivity can cause especially bad sunburns, and sunburns increase your risk of skin cancer. If you are taking a medicine that increases sun sensitivity, you need to be especially careful about protecting your skin from the sun.

- Consider how much time you spend in the car. If you spend a lot of time driving or riding in a car, you may want to have ultraviolet-protective films installed on the car windows. In most cars, only the windshield protects against both of the types of ultraviolet rays - UVA and UVB - that increase the risk of skin cancer. The rest of the windows only block UVB, unless you have ultraviolet-protective films installed. If you don't want to have these films installed on your car windows, another way to protect yourself is to wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen (the kind that protects against both UVA and UVB) while you are in the car.

- If you have had an organ transplant, you should be aware that you are at high risk for skin cancer. The immunosuppressive drugs that you need to take so that your body won't reject your transplant increase your susceptibility to skin cancer. You should be seeing a dermatologist regularly and following the dermatologist's advice about how to reduce your skin cancer risk and how to spot skin cancer early, before it becomes a serious problem.

- If you are pregnant, you may notice changes in the pigmentation of your skin. This is usually a normal part of pregnancy and no cause for concern. But there have been instances where women who developed skin cancer during pregnancy didn't do anything about it because they thought that the changes they saw were normal pregnancy-related changes. So make sure to show your doctor any changes in your skin pigmentation at your regular prenatal visits. If the doctor thinks that the changes may not be normal, you will probably be asked to see a dermatologist to have the areas examined more closely.

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