7 Things You Never Knew About Detecting Skin Cancer

"About 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers and about 86 percent of melanomas are associated with exposure to UV radiation from the sun," says Dr. Karen.

That's a huge number! What's also huge is how low those number go with daily (and proper) use of an SPF 30 or higher. Our skin can only protect itself to a certain degree and we can't count on the melanin in our skin to do all of the work.

"Melanin as a sun protection factor agent (SPF) is effective in quenching the sun rays by 13 in African Americans and 5 In Caucasians," explains dermatologist Maritza I. Perez, MD.