Melanoma by the Numbers

The smallest share of skin cancers, the largest share of deaths

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States. More than 9,500 people are diagnosed with it every day, and at least one in five Americans will develop it by age 70.¹ Most of those cases are basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, which are common, usually treatable, and rarely fatal.

Melanoma is different. According to the American Cancer Society, it accounts for only about 1 percent of skin cancers but causes a large majority of skin cancer deaths.² It begins in melanocytes, the cells that produce pigment, and it is more likely than other skin cancers to spread to lymph nodes and distant organs if it is not found early.

The 2026 estimates

The American Cancer Society projects that about 112,000 new invasive melanomas will be diagnosed in the United States in 2026: roughly 65,400 in men and 46,600 in women.² The National Cancer Institute's SEER program lists the same figure, which works out to 5.3 percent of all new cancer cases in the country.³

That number counts invasive disease only. The Skin Cancer Foundation, drawing on the same American Cancer Society report, puts the full total at an estimated 234,680 melanoma cases in 2026 once melanoma in situ is included. In situ melanomas are confined to the top layer of skin and have not invaded deeper tissue; they account for 122,680 of the total, a little more than half.¹

An estimated 8,510 people are expected to die of melanoma in 2026, about 5,500 men and 3,010 women.² That is 1.4 percent of all U.S. cancer deaths.³ SEER estimates that 1,573,288 people were living with melanoma of the skin in the United States in 2023.³

Diagnoses are rising; death rates are not

The trend lines point in two directions. The Skin Cancer Foundation reports that the number of new invasive melanoma cases diagnosed each year rose 46.6 percent between 2016 and 2026, and that new cases are estimated to increase 10.6 percent in 2026 alone, while deaths are expected to rise by 1 percent.¹

The pattern differs by age. The American Cancer Society notes that over the past decade, rates in people younger than 50 have been stable among women and have declined by about 1 percent a year among men, while rates in people 50 and older have increased slightly. Melanoma death rates, meanwhile, have gone down over the past decade, which the society attributes largely to major advances in treatment.²

Who is most at risk

Melanoma is mostly a disease of later life. The median age at diagnosis is 67, and SEER estimates that about 2.2 percent of men and women will be diagnosed with it at some point in their lives.³

Men carry more of the burden. They account for about 58 percent of the invasive cases projected for 2026 and nearly two-thirds of the deaths.² SEER's age-adjusted rate of new cases is 28.3 per 100,000 for men and 17.9 per 100,000 for women, and the death rate for men is more than double the rate for women (2.9 versus 1.3 per 100,000).³ From age 50 on, significantly more men than women develop melanoma.¹

Risk also varies sharply by skin type. The American Cancer Society puts lifetime risk at about 3 percent (1 in 33) for White people, 0.5 percent (1 in 200) for Hispanic people, and 0.1 percent (1 in 1,000) for Black people.² Lower incidence does not mean lower stakes, however. The Skin Cancer Foundation, citing American Cancer Society data, reports a five-year melanoma survival rate of 70 percent for Black patients compared with 95 percent for White patients, and notes that melanomas in people of color often occur on skin that gets little sun.¹ A low baseline risk is a reason for fewer cases, not a reason to ignore a changing spot.

What sun exposure has to do with it

Ultraviolet radiation is the main risk factor people can change. One UK study estimated that about 86 percent of melanomas in that country could be attributed to UV exposure from the sun.^1,4 That is a British estimate, not an official U.S. figure, but it indicates how much of the disease is tied to sun exposure.

Sunburn history matters in particular. On average, a person's risk for melanoma doubles if they have had more than five sunburns.^1,5 Sunburn remains common: in a survey conducted for the American Academy of Dermatology in early 2026, one-third of U.S. adults said they were sunburned in 2025.⁶

Stage at diagnosis changes the outlook

Across all stages, five-year survival for melanoma in the United States is about 95 percent. SEER reports a five-year relative survival of 94.7 percent for 2016 to 2022.^1,3 That average conceals a wide range.

When melanoma is detected early, before it has spread, five-year survival is over 99 percent. It falls to 76 percent once the disease reaches the lymph nodes, and to 35 percent when it has spread to distant organs, according to American Cancer Society figures based on 2015 to 2021 data.¹ SEER's most recent numbers, for 2016 to 2022, are similar: 100 percent for localized disease, 76 percent for regional, and 34 percent for distant.³

Most melanomas are caught in time. SEER finds that 77 percent of cases are diagnosed at the localized stage.³ The practical implication is that noticing a new or changing mole, and having it examined, is among the most valuable things a person can do.

The cost of treatment

Treating skin cancers in the United States costs an estimated $8.1 billion a year: about $4.8 billion for nonmelanoma skin cancers and $3.3 billion for melanoma.^1,7 Those figures come from an analysis of spending in 2007 through 2011, so they predate many of the newer and more expensive therapies for advanced melanoma.

What prevention can and cannot do

No single measure prevents melanoma, and some risk factors, such as skin type and family history, cannot be changed. But the evidence for limiting UV exposure is consistent, and sunscreen has some of the strongest evidence behind it.

The key study is a randomized trial in Nambour, Australia. Beginning in 1992, 1,621 adults were assigned either to apply SPF 15+ sunscreen daily to the head and arms or to use sunscreen at their own discretion. Ten years after the trial ended, 11 new melanomas had been diagnosed in the daily-use group and 22 in the discretionary group, a halving of the observed rate that sat at the border of statistical significance (hazard ratio 0.50; 95 percent confidence interval 0.24 to 1.02).⁸ This is the basis for the Skin Cancer Foundation's statement that regular daily use of an SPF 15 or higher sunscreen, used as directed, reduces melanoma risk by 50 percent.¹ It is one trial in one sunny region, but it is the best experimental evidence available.

Sunscreen is one tool among several. Shade during the middle of the day, clothing and hats that cover the skin, and avoiding tanning beds all reduce UV exposure without depending on how well a product is applied. Early detection is the other half of the picture: regular self-checks and seeing a dermatologist about anything new, changing, or unusual, since survival depends so heavily on stage.

Where Sunspi fits

Sunspi is working on one narrow part of this problem: making it easier to put sunscreen on properly. Our booth, developed by Embry-Riddle engineers and UGA premedical and medical students, applies a full, even coat of reef-safe sunscreen from the neck down in seconds, for a few dollars; the face and scalp are still done by hand. It is not a medical treatment, and it does not replace shade, clothing, or skin checks. A demo is coming soon, and the goal is simple: make good sun protection easier and more affordable in the places where people need it.