Of all different kinds of cancer, skin cancer is one of the most commonly
diagnosed cancers in the United States. Skin cancer is a disease which cancer cells are
found on the outer layers of the skin. Your skin protects the body from heat, infection,
light, injury and infection. It also stores fat, water, and vitamin D. The skin has two
layers and several different kinds of cells. With a certain lifestyle these cells can become
cancerous.(Prodigy Web Browser: An Introduction to skin Cancer {NET}, 1997)
Melanoma is associated with the highest case-fatality rate of all skin cancers.(Mortality
and Morbility Weekly Report Vol. 45/No. 17 , {MMWR}, 1996) Numerous studies have
delineated the natural history of skin cancers. Some cell carcinomas tend to grow and
invade slowly and steadily. Certain subtypes are more aggressive, and certain sites of
occurrence (scalp, shoulders and nose) are associated with worse cases. Malignant
melanoma may have a thin stage, in which survival rates are excellent. The length of thin,
or radial, growth phase may be months to years. If untreated at some point melanoma
enters a quick growth phase. When this occurs the survival rates plummet.(Brandt, 1996)
Skin Cancer can be avoided. A change in lifestyle can reduce the risk of skin cancer.
This includes awareness of the reality of skin cancer, avoiding the sun, and self-
Most of the time when people think of a serious disease they think of things like
lung cancer, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases, and other hot topic diseases of
that nature. Skin cancer awareness and the seriousness of skin cancer is far less
emphasized. The MMWR did a survey of knowledge of and awareness about melanoma
in the united states in 1995. In 1996, an estimated 38,300 cases of melanoma were
diagnosed, and an approximately 7300 melanoma deaths would occur . Intervention
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