Free Screening Finds Suspected Skin Cancers at Huntsman Cancer Institute

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. In an effort to find signs and symptoms of skin cancer early, Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) held its seventh annual free skin cancer screening. HCI, University of Utah (U of U), and community dermatologists examined a total of 432 patients, many of whom had never been examined by a dermatologist.

The free screening for skin cancer was conducted as part of Melanoma and Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month in May. Participating doctors said they discovered 190 suspected cancerous or suspicious lesions and at least two of those could be melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer. Since the 1930s, the incidence of melanoma has increased more than 200 percent. One person dies of melanoma every hour.

"Skin cancer is epidemic in our country today," Sancy Leachman, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Tom C. Mathews Jr. Familial Melanoma Research Clinic at