Two new studies have found that the cases of non-melanoma skin cancer have swelled since the 1990s, and it has become the most common form of cancer.

According to a study, in 2006, over 2 million Americans on Medicare were treated for non-melanoma skin cancer, compared with 1.6 million in 1992.

Calling non-melanoma skin cancer an "epidemic", researchers predict that the condition is going to get worse.

Dr. Howard Rogers, a Dermatologist in Norwich, Conn., and Lead Author of one of the studies, said that every year, the number has increased at a rate of 4.2%, from 1992 to 2006.

The studies came out in the March issue of the Archives of Dermatology.

Dr. Suephy Chen, an Associate Professor of Dermatology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said, "Our population is aging. Those people who grew up in the 1970s and 1980s when there was not a big sun-protection message out there are now coming into their 50s and 60s and are starting to develop skin cancers".

Dermatologists suggest to apply broad-spectrum sunscreen copiously and frequently, wear hats and other protective clothing while going out in the sun, and avoid exposure to sun when the sun's rays are the strongest, between
10 a. m. and 3 p. m., to reduce the odds of getting skin cancer.