f the sun's ultraviolet rays (Kobren, 1990, p. F7). Many also believe that the incidence of melanoma has been rising partly due to the fact that people are wearing less clothing in intense sunlight. Others are affected because of their profession. Farmers, fishermen and lifeguards, for example, have high rates of other skin cancers but low rates of melanoma.
Anyone, no matter how dark, can get skin cancer. But the brown pigment melanin in a person's skin surface absorbs some of the damaging rays which protects the underlying cells. Caucasians with dark hair and eyes and more even pigmentation, as well as Hispanics and Asians, are somewhat less susceptible to skin cancer. Black Americans have only one-twentieth as many skin cancers as whites, and Hispanic Americans get one-sixth as many skin cancers as non-Hispanic whites (Brody, 1991, p. C9).
"Doctors say the best protection against skin cancer, apart from staying indoors, is the daily use of sunscreens, especially between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., when
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