Everyone is at risk for basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers, and for potentially fatal malignant melanoma,
the fastest-rising form of cancer. Those with fair skin, freckles and blond or red hair who sunburn easily or have lots of moles are at higher than normal risk. Having a family history of skin cancer heightens risk, as does a personal or family history of actinic keratoses (scaly, red-brown skin patches that may t urn cancerous).
Your history of sun exposure is important: People who had three or more blistering sunburns during childhood or who held outdoor summer jobs as teenagers have an increased risk of developing
melanoma in adulthood. A history of intermittent sun exposure is also a factor. For unknown reasons, people ho work indoors and spend their leisure time
outdoors are at greater risk of melanoma that are those who spend most of their time outdoors.
For basal and squamous cell sin cancers, increased risk comes not from past sunburns but from cumulative damage caused by years of sunbathing and day-to-day sun exposure. And the trouble starts early: Cancer may not develop until adulthood, but “about 80 percent of cancer-causing sun damage occurs before age 18, largely because children spend so much time outdoors.