DE SCR73

May is designated as Melanoma and Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month in Delaware since 2009, and this resolution continues to raise awareness of the importance of this designation.

Skin cancer affects one in five Americans with over 5.4 million new cases diagnosed annually, while melanoma accounts for only 1% of skin cancer cases but the majority of skin cancer deaths.

Melanoma incidence rates have been increasing for at least 30 years with approximately 2% annual growth, with an estimated 10,130 melanoma-related deaths and 320 new cases expected in Delaware in 2016.

General Assembly lauds talimogene laherparepvec, approved by the Food and Drug Administration on October 27, 2015, as the first oncolytic virus immunotherapy for treatment of advanced melanoma.

The resolution notes this new treatment represents American scientific achievement and offers hope for future immunotherapy developments to save melanoma patients' lives.