Almost everyone (almost 100 percent) will live for a year or longer after being diagnosed with melanoma. Approximately 90 individuals out of every 100 (or 90 percent) will survive their melanoma for 5 years or longer following diagnosis. This is because melanoma is a relatively rare type of skin cancer, and there are many treatments available to control it when it's found early. The main factor that affects how long someone lives after being diagnosed with melanoma is the thickness of the tumor at time of diagnosis. If the melanoma is thin (less than 1.00 mm thick), the patient may experience recurrence within five years of surgery but most often not before eight years. If the melanoma is thicker than 1.00 mm, the patient has a greater chance of developing other cancers in the future. Patients with very thick tumors (more than 4.00 mm) should be monitored indefinitely for further disease progression. It is important to remember that survival rates are based on the overall population studied rather than just specific subgroups such as older adults or younger adults. However, older adults do have a higher rate of mortality after diagnosis than younger adults due to other health issues that may arise from treatment side effects. After learning about one's prognosis, patients and families need to determine what kind of survival estimate they want to achieve. There are two types of survival estimates: projected and actual.