Some cancers are more common in aging skin. The underlying cause of skin cancer in older people is often the accumulated damage of many years of excessive exposure to the sun. In some cases there may be a genetic predisposition to skin cancer-either “cancer in the family” or the inheritance of a type of skin that increases the risk for skin cancer.
All skin cancers can be successfully cured if they are discovered and treated early. Some skin cancers (malignant melanoma and the larger squamous cell carcinomas) can spread to other parts of the body, creating a potentially life-threatening condition.