It may begin as a pink or red crusted area. Malignant melanoma is the most serious of skin cancers. It usually begins as a light brown or flat, black spot with irregular borders that later can become red, blue or white. It may start in an existing mole or as a new flat freckle with irregular borders. One out of every five Americans will develop some form of skin cancer in their lifetime.
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer.
Half of all cancers diagnosed is skin cancer. It is estimated that 1 million new cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed this year in the United States. This increases to 1 in 75 by the year 2000. They state that ultraviolet radiation causes almost all cases of basal and squamous cell skin cancer, and sun exposure is a major cause of skin cancer. Caucasians are 20 times more likely thank African-Americans to develop malignant melanoma.