medicine
Trend: skin cancer much more common than 20 years ago
Cancer screening tests help to discover malignant new tissue formation. photo
© Eva Manhart/APA/dpa
An increase in treatment cases of up to 114 percent was recorded. There are clear reasons for the rise in cancer.
In the past 20 years, the number of hospital treatments for skin cancer has increased significantly. In 2021, 105,700 people diagnosed with skin cancer were treated as inpatients in hospital – that was almost 75 percent more cases than in 2001, as the Federal Statistical Office announced on Tuesday in Wiesbaden.
According to health experts, one of the factors contributing to this trend is increasing life expectancy. A lack of sun protection and a lack of awareness of the problem decades ago are also considered factors.
According to the Destatis data, the number of cases treated with light skin cancer in particular has increased – by 114 percent from 38,400 cases in 2001 to 82,100 in 2021. There were 23,700 inpatient treatments for black skin cancer – seven percent more than in 2001.
Skin cancer was the main diagnosis in 7.4 percent of all inpatient cancer treatments in 2021. 20 years earlier, the proportion was still 3.8 percent. Men are affected more frequently than women.
About 4100 people died from skin cancer in 2021. That was 55 percent more than in 2001, when there were 2,600 such deaths. As with most cancers, older people are particularly affected: half of those who died of skin cancer in 2021 were 80 years or older.
The development of skin cancer
According to the German Cancer Society, excessive UV radiation is one of the most important risk factors for the development of skin cancer. The more intensively and frequently the skin is exposed to UV rays, the higher the risk of developing skin cancer.
Black skin cancer (malignant melanoma) is based on a degeneration of the pigment cells in the skin. It can be surgically removed but is more dangerous. Light or white skin cancer is easily curable.