The awareness among the people about the difference between melanoma and non-melanoma relating to skin cancer has apparently increased of late, especially after California Governor Jerry Brown underwent a surgery for removing cancerous growth from his nose.

The cancerous growth in Brown’s nose was basal cell carcinoma - a common skin cancer which is quite curable and hardly ever spreads to other parts of the body. This type of skin cancer is not the same as ‘invasive’ melanoma which, though less common, is a comparatively deadlier kind of skin cancer.

Underscoring the difference between non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers, the Los Angeles Times has recently reported that while non-melanoma skin cancers - including basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma - are created in skin cells called keratinocytes; melanoma skin cancers are formed in melanocytes, or the pigment-making cells of the skin.

The report also mentioned that though over 2 million people in the US are diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer every year, these cancer cases account for barely 0.1 percent of deaths from all cancers. In comparison, melanoma skin cancers are the leading cancer in adults aged between 25 and 29 years.

With Dr. Lisa Chipps - an L. A.-based dermatologist and educational spokeswoman for the Skin Cancer Foundation – noting that “one of the biggest misunderstandings about skin cancer is the difference between melanoma and non-melanoma,” the increasing awareness of the two skin cancer types can help improve their detection and treatment, as well as their prevention.