Melanoma diagnoses among older people reaches new high

A new study has indicated that rates of melanoma in people aged 55 and over have risen by 155 percent in the last 20 years.

For the first time in the UK, more than 10,000 people over the age of 55 were diagnosed with malignant melanoma – the most dangerous form of skin cancer – in a single year in 2014, up from around 3,100 cases two decades ago.

Melanoma diagnosis rates in the UK for under-55s are also rising but at a much slower rate (63 percent) during the same time. This problem is affecting older people in particular because they belong to a generation for whom tanning and cheap package holidays were highly fashionable.

The number of people dying from the disease is also increasing, but so too are survival rates, with nine in ten people diagnosed with malignant melanoma in England and Wales now expected to survive their disease for at least ten years, compared to seven in ten in the early 90s.

Nick Ormiston-Smith, Cancer Research UK's head of statistics, said: "It's worrying to see that malignant melanoma rates are continuing to rise and it's very important that people take care of their skin in strong sun, even if they've been sunburnt in the past."