Sponsored by: Eli Lilly and Company Limited
This resource composed of 10 clinical cases, assesses the user’s knowledge of skin cancer. On successful completion of this resource, you will be provided with one hour of CPD.
Skin cancer includes two large groups: cutaneous melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC).
At the start of the 21st century, melanoma remains a potentially fatal malignancy, accounting for 75% of all deaths from skin cancer. At a time when the incidence of many tumour types is decreasing, melanoma incidence continues to increase. Although most patients have localised disease at the time of the diagnosis and are treated by surgical excision of the primary tumour, many patients develop metastases.
Nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common form of cancer in the world and approximately 40% of all malignancies. The incidence of nonmelanoma skin cancer has increased since the 1990s, but its mortality rate has decreased.
The following are major environmental risk factors for NMSC:
The prevalence of skin cancer cases is approximately 5 times higher than the prevalence of breast or prostate cancer and higher than the prevalence of all other cancers. Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world, and NMSC is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia.