Number of Skin Cancer Cases Rising Rapidly
Source: Hungary Today, February 2024
The number of skin cancer cases has doubled in two decades, and dermatologists expect it to rise even further. Melanoma, known to most people, accounts for only 10% of this figure. The Hungarian Dermatological Society has expanded its information on the website to include details on suspicious lesions, which is worth keeping an eye out for all year round.
The number of skin cancer cases has increased one and a half times worldwide and even more in Hungary since the early 2000s, writes Index. This has made skin cancer not only the most common but also the fastest growing type of cancer. “One of the risk factors is UV radiation, to which we are more exposed nowadays,” recalled Rolland Gyulai, Director of the Department of Dermatology and Allergology at the Albert Szent-Györgyi Clinical Center of the University of Szeged, and member of the board of the Hungarian Dermatological Society (MDT). He highlighted that the trend suggests that the number of people diagnosed with skin cancer could double again by 2050.
Melanoma, one of the best known skin cancer types, was diagnosed in 1,500-1,700 people in the early 2000s, but today the number of cases exceeds 3,000. Nearly 25,000 Hungarians are diagnosed with malignant skin lesions every year, which is also double the number at the turn of the millennium. The mortality rate has not increased in line with the number of cases, as more effective therapies are becoming available and more people are undergoing screening for moles.