The skin is our largest organ. Cancer in any form is scary, but if you could keep it from invading your body’s largest organ, why wouldn’t you?  More than 90 percent of skin cancer cases are caused by sun exposure. That means you can prevent it. And no, you don’t have to stay out of the sun to be safe. You just have to protect yourself.

Read on for some eye-opening facts about the fastest growing cancer in the United States and tips on how you can prevent it, according to the American Vitiligo Research Foundation Inc.

• More than 1.5 million new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed each year in the United States.
• One in five Americans and one in three Caucasians will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.
• Nationally, there are more new cases of skin cancer each year than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung, and colon.
• More than 90 percent of all skin cancers are caused by sun exposure, yet fewer than 33 percent of adults, adolescents, and children routinely use sun protection.
• The incidence of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, is rising faster than that of any other cancer. There are now nearly 8,000 melanoma deaths every year. One person dies every hour from skin cancer, primarily melanoma.
• While melanoma is uncommon in African-Americans, Latinos, and Asians, it is most deadly for these populations.
• The majority of people diagnosed with melanoma are white men older than age 50.
• Skin cancer is the No. 1 cancer in men 50 and older, ahead of prostate, lung and colon cancer.
• Middle-aged and older men have the poorest track record for performing monthly skin self exams or regularly visiting a dermatologist. They are the least likely individuals to detect melanoma in its early stages.
• Men over age 40 spend the most time outdoors and have the highest annual exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
• In the past 30 years, skin cancer has tripled in women younger than 40.
• Melanoma is the second most common cancer in women aged 20-29.
• One blistering sunburn in childhood more than doubles a person’s chances of developing melanoma later in life.
• Regular sun protection throughout childhood can reduce the risk of skin cancer by 80 percent.
• It is estimated that 2.3 million teens visit a tanning salon at least once a year.
• In the past 20 years there has been more than a 100 percent increase in the cases of pediatric melanoma.
• Less than half of all teenagers use sunscreen.

To maintain healthy and great looking skin use your broad spectrum sunscreen daily