Skin Cancer On The Rise (+Video CBS Anchor Norah O’Donnell On Her Skin Cancer)

New diagnoses for two types of skin cancer increased in recent years, according to a Mayo Clinic-led team of researchers.

Their paper, published today in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, uses medical records from the Rochester Epidemiology Project to compare diagnoses of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma ─ both nonmelanoma skin cancers ─ between 2000 and 2010 to diagnoses in prior years. The Rochester Epidemiology project is a medical records linkage system and research collaborative in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Age, sex lead to different diagnoses
The researchers report that, between 2000 and 2010, squamous cell carcinoma (also called cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma) diagnoses increased 263 percent, and basal cell carcinomas increased 145 percent. They compared the 2000-2010 period to two other segments of time: 1976-1984 and 1985-1992.

Women 30-49 experienced the greatest increase in basal cell carcinoma diagnoses; whereas, women 40-59 and 70-79 experienced the greatest increase in squamous cell carcinomas.

Men had an increase in squamous cell carcinomas between the first and second time period studied (1976-1984 and 1985-1992), but experienced a slight decline in the 2000-2010 period. However, for basal cell carcinomas, men over 29 showed similar increases in diagnoses in the 2000-2010 period then the two earlier periods.

From Inside Edition: CBS Anchor Norah O’Donnell on How She Found Out About Her Skin Cancer