Promotional Effects of Ultraviolet Radiation on Human Basal and Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Recent data on the incidence of basal and squamous cell skin cancer among Caucasians in eight regions of the United States have been analyzed. Principal conclusions are that (1) ultraviolet radiation is an effective promoter of non‐melanoma skin tumors; (2) the probability of a skin tumor becoming observable in an individual of some given age is well described by the log‐normal distribution: (3) the fluence‐response relation for both basal and squamous cell tumors is linear with a positive intercept, although the parameter values are clearly different for the two types; (4) a 1% ozone layer depletion would lead to an eventual 1.7% increase in basal cell carcinoma, and a 2.3% increase in squamous cell carcinoma.