How common are basal cancerous cells?
Basal-cell carcinoma
very common
Basal-cell cancer is a very common skin cancer. It is much more common in fair-skinned individuals with a family history of basal-cell cancer and increases in incidence closer to the equator or at higher altitude. There are approximately 800,000[55] new cases yearly in the United States alone. Up to 30% of Caucasians develop basal-cell carcinomas in their lifetime.[56] In Canada, the most common skin cancer is basal-cell carcinoma (as much as one third of all cancer diagnoses), affecting 1 in 7 individuals over a lifetime.[57]