Statement: Melanoma cases are increasing at an epidemic rate of 4% a year.
SAE: Perhaps and not surprising. More people are going to dermatologists than ever before; perhaps a positive result of the public awareness created by the American Academy of Dermatology, American Medical Association, the Skin Cancer Foundation and others -- and maybe even a little common sense.
Statement: In the U.S. there are more new cases of melanoma each year than there are of AIDS. There were 54,000 new cases of melanoma in the U.S. in 2002.
SAE: Actually, The Center of Disease Control (CDC) reports 850,000 to 950,000 cases of HIV and 43,000 cases of AIDS in 2003. According to the National Cancer Institute, there were 31,500 cases of melanoma in 2002.
Statement: "Melanoma is the most common cancer in the U.S. "
SAE: Actually the 8th most common and here are the numbers
Male Genital: 138,000
Breast-Female: 131,000
Respiratory: 114,000
Colon & Rectum: 92,000
Urinary System: 57,000
Female Genital : 49,000
Lymphoma: 39,000
Melanoma: 31,000
and in fact, Lung, Colorectal, Breast and Prostate make up over 50% of all cancers.
Statement: ..."In women 25-29, melanoma is the primary cause of cancer death, and in women 30-34 it is the second most common cause of cancer death"
SAE: The fact is for women, breast cancer will claim more than 131,000 lives this year. Melanoma fatality rates have actually dropped in both males and females according to the National Cancer Institute and the SEER report View the statistics at
http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2002/sections.html
