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Beauty

1 In 5 Americans Will Get This Type of Cancer & The Rates Are Only Increasing

Author: Alexandra Engler

May 06, 2026

Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Director

By Alexandra Engler

Senior Beauty & Lifestyle Director

Alexandra Engler is the senior beauty and lifestyle director at mindbodygreen and host of the beauty podcast Clean Beauty School. Previously, she's held beauty roles at Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire, SELF, and Cosmopolitan; her byline has appeared in Esquire, Sports Illustrated, and Allure.com

Image by AleksandarNakic / istock

May 06, 2026

As we kick off summer, we'll be sharing our best advice for achieving Healthy Summer Skin—read all May long. Here’s to a summer of feeling good, living well, and keeping your skin safe under the sun.

We take the skin for granted. Viewed as an accessory or vanity project, it’s rarely given the respect it deserves for the vital functions it performs for the body. Every single day.

One of the most important and critical roles of the skin is to act as a barrier. It’s a dynamic, living shield that protects us from pollution, pathogens, and UV radiation. Because of this, it’s constantly bombarded with external stressors. And that takes a toll.

Over time, repeated UV exposure damages skin cells at the DNA level. When that damage accumulates faster than the body can repair it, mutations can form, some of which lead to skin cancer.

Skin cancer rates are on the rise

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United states and around the world—and the numbers continue to climb. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer by age 70. In fact, more people are diagnosed with skin cancer each year in the U.S. than all other cancers combined.

While all cancers are serious, melanoma is by far the most deadly. In the past decade, the number of new invasive melanoma cases diagnosed annually increased by almost 47%. And it's estimated that in this year alone, the number of new melanoma cases diagnosed will increase by 10%.

So skin cancer, including melanoma, is on the rise. A common argument as to why is that we’re simply getting better at it.

“One [statement] doesn’t cancel out the other. Both are true,” says Harvard-trained board-certified dermatologist Jessica Wu, M.D., who practices in Beverly Hills and is author of Feed Your Face. “We are better at detecting early skin cancers, but melanoma rates have also genuinely risen over time”

What we’re still getting wrong about skin cancer

Yes, we’re getting better at awareness and early skin cancer detection, but according to Wu, there’s still an education gap about what skin cancer actually looks like in real life.

The conventional, long-standing advice was to look for the ABCDs of moles. That being to watch out for marks on the skin that were asymmetrical, poorly defined or irregular border, color differences, larger diameter, and evolving. This is still valid advice and a wonderful starting point, but as Wu notes we need to broaden our understanding of what skin cancers can look like.

“The biggest misconception is that skin cancer always looks dramatic. People expect a scary black mole, but it can also look like a sore that doesn't heal; a pimple that keeps coming back; a rough patch; or a mole that suddenly itches, bleeds, or grows,” she says.

In other words: It’s not always obvious. And that’s exactly why a more expansive approach to prevention and detection matters.

Skin cancer prevention is so much more than SPF

Sunscreen is foundational. Full stop. But it shouldn’t be the only thing you’re doing to support your skin.

All-encompassing sun care routine

According to a 2026 survey from the American Academy of Dermatology Association, 96% of Americans believe sun protection is important—a sign that the public awareness campaign is working.

However, habits still lag: 67% of Americans tanned in 2024, up from 54% in 2020. Additionally, 35% were sunburned, up from 25% in 2020, including nearly 50% of Gen Z and millennials.

“I would stop selling sunscreen as a beauty product and tell the truth: daily sunscreen is health infrastructure. You don’t wear a seatbelt because you expect to crash. You wear it because the consequences are high with not wearing one, and it's easy to do,” says Wu. “Sunscreen is not vanity. It’s a daily decision to protect the only organ you can see aging and injuring in real time.”

It’s also important to think of sun care holistically. Sun protection isn’t just sunscreen. In fact, it encompasses a wide range of products and habits.

“Wear UPF clothing, a wide-brimmed hat, and UV-blocking sunglasses,” says Wu. Using accessories and clothing to your advantage means you don’t have to solely rely on sunscreen for your protection.

Avoid peak UV hours, use shade when possible, and be especially diligent near reflective surfaces like water, sand, and concrete, which can intensify exposure.

A note about spending time outdoors:

Spending t