--- title: Skin Cancer Rates Doubled in the Last 30 Years description: The deadliest skin cancer is getting more expensive and more common. canonical: https://time.com/3906871/skin-cancer-rates/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-03T12:28:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:51:31.252Z article:section: Health og:title: Skin Cancer Rates Doubled in the Last 30 Years og:description: Doctors recommend staying out of the sun og:url: https://time.com/3906871/skin-cancer-rates/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11c26eb14c6d98a1/698852d3a988ca80c56b2d86/sunscreen-dad-son.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: parent sunscreen son og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Skin Cancer Rates Doubled in the Last 30 Years twitter:description: Doctors recommend staying out of the sun twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11c26eb14c6d98a1/698852d3a988ca80c56b2d86/sunscreen-dad-son.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Skin Cancer Rates Doubled in the Last 30 Years by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 3, 2015 12:28 PM UTC  Mother putting sun cream on her son. Mother putting sun cream on her son.Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Jun 3, 2015 12:28 PM UTC The rate of diagnoses for the deadliest form of skin cancer has more than doubled since the early 1980s, greatly raising the cost of medical care. According to a [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention](http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2015/p0602-melanoma-cancer.html) study released Tuesday, the melanoma rate has increased from 11.2 cases per 100,000 people in 1982 to 22.7 cases per 100,000 in 2011. The annual cost of treating melanoma is likely to nearly triple from $457 million in 2011 to $1.6 billion in 2030. “Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, and it’s on the rise,” said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. “Protect yourself from the sun by wearing a hat and clothes that cover your skin.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3906871/skin-cancer-rates/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3906871/skin-cancer-rates/"},"headline":"Skin Cancer Rates Doubled in the Last 30 Years","datePublished":"2015-06-03T12:28:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:51:31.252Z","description":"Doctors recommend staying out of the sun","url":"https://time.com/3906871/skin-cancer-rates/","keywords":["Cancer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11c26eb14c6d98a1/698852d3a988ca80c56b2d86/sunscreen-dad-son.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt11c26eb14c6d98a1/698852d3a988ca80c56b2d86/sunscreen-dad-son.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"parent sunscreen son","caption":"parent sunscreen son","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/cancer/","name":"Cancer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3906871/skin-cancer-rates/","name":"Skin Cancer Rates Doubled in the Last 30 Years"}}]}] ```