FINDING CANCER EARLY IMPROVES YOUR CHANCES OF SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT AND LONG-TERM SURVIVAL

Around 750,000 people a year are treated for non-melanoma skin cancers with more than 2,000 dying as a result. And new research in Victoria shows that while rates are dropping among younger people, for those over 55 numbers continue to rise. The study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia showed a drop in rates of invasive melanoma for Victorians aged under 55. The study, which used data from 1985 to 2015 from the Victorian Cancer Registry, showed the rate of invasive melanoma had overall slowed significantly for men and plateaued for women since the mid 1990s. Head of Prevention at the Cancer Council Victoria, Craig Sinclair, says this could be attributed to decades of public health campaigns targeted at the young.