Melanoma Increase/Decrease among Floridians in Years 2000 and 2008

Melanoma Increase/Decrease among Floridians in Years 2000 and 2008

Melanoma is a cancer that affects over 32,000 new individuals per year. Melanoma is a cancer that is within the melanocytes, under the skin, that produce and move the pigment of melanin. Melanin is an especially important pigment because of the protection it provides the human skin. Of the skin cancers that are present within the population, Melanoma accounts for only about five percent, but it is responsible for seventy-five percent of all skin cancer fatalities. In this project, statistical techniques are used to study if there is any change in the number of skin cancer among different age groups of patients in Florida in years 2000 and 2008. Florida is chosen in this study because it receives more days of sunshine than that of any other state. A steady increase of Melanoma cases would indicate that an epidemic of skin cancer is on the rise.