Epidemilogic studies show that the annual increase in non-melanoma skin cancer is approximately 5% per year. A new study, published in 2005 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that during the past 30 years, women under 40 have tripled their risk of developing skin cancer.

This increasing frequency of non-melanoma skin cancer in younger adults, could lead to a dramatic increase in non-melanoma skin cancers as the population ages. Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Both non-melanoma skin cancer (mainly basal cell cancer, BCC) and actinic keratosis (AK) are strongly related to excessive sun exposure. Therefore, these lesions appear mainly on sun-exposed areas of the body, for instance on the face, where treatment-related scarring is particularly visible. Disfiguring scars can cause serious reduction in quality of life for these patients.