UK skin cancer survival rates on the increase

UK skin cancer survival rates have improved significantly since the 1970s, according to a new report from Cancer Research UK.

The data revealed that more than eight out of ten people diagnosed with malignant melanoma – the most dangerous form of skin cancer – will now survive the disease, compared to only around 50 percent in the early 1970s.

Ten-year survival rates have reached 80 percent in men and 90 percent in women, with these improvements said to be attributable to improvements in treatment, early diagnosis and awareness of the symptoms.

However, despite this, the report also noted that skin cancer is one of the fastest-rising cancer types in the UK, due in part to Britons' sunbathing habits and the growing availability of cheap package holidays.

Professor Richard Marais, director of the Cancer Research UK Paterson Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Manchester, said: "More and more people are beating skin cancer but we can't stop there – we need to develop better treatments for the two out of ten where things don't look so good."

Excessive exposure to the sun has been identified as the main cause of skin cancer, while using sunbeds also increases the risk of the disease.