Number of Skin Cancer Cases Rising

MURRAY, UT (5/6/2010) – More than one million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in the United States every year, and the incidence of melanoma has been steadily increasing for the past 30 years — which is why Intermountain Medical Center is holding a free skin cancer screening clinic on Wednesday, May 19, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The free clinic will be held at the Jon and Karen Huntsman-Intermountain Cancer Center at Intermountain Medical Center, 5131 South Cottonwood Street (150 West) in Murray. Please call 801-507-3800 to make an appointment.

“The free skin cancer screening clinic will help us prevent skin cancer,” says Jacqueline Panko, MD, a dermatologist at the Intermountain Taylorsville Clinic. “One of the keys to successful treatment of melanoma and other skin cancers is early detection. If you feel like you have a spot that needs to be looked at, it’s very important that you get screened.”

The warning signs of skin cancer and melanoma, which is its most dangerous form, typically include a change in size, shape, or color of a mole, spot, or other skin growth, including changes in the elevation of a mole that used to be flat. Other symptoms include changes in the surface of a mole or surrounding skin (scaling, crusting, redness, swelling, etc.) and uncomfortable sensations including itching or burning.

The free skin cancer screening clinic is being sponsored in conjunction with the American Academy of Dermatology’s Melanoma/Skin Cancer Screening Program during May, which is Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month.

The purpose of the free skin cancer screening is to increase understanding of the importance of sun protection and early skin cancer detection, and most importantly, to save lives by finding melanomas in their earliest, most treatable stage.