This fact is demonstrated in the following graph which shows the age distribution for all cancers in both sexes. The number of cases shown, is the average number of cases of cancer per year. One in 3 Irish people will develop cancer up to the age of 74 years. 7,000 of these are non-melanoma skin cancer . The number of new cases does not truly measure the burden of cancer in the community.
Skin cancer is by far the most common type, making up one-third of all new cases.