I have to agree with pandabird that it is so important to go to regular checkups, because cancer is affecting you oftenly not only when you are older. In my teenaged time, I was checked up all three months by dermatologists for my hundreds of dysplastic moles and dysplastic nevi syndrome, and I hated these exams at all, but my mother was so strong and took me there to all appointments until I was 18. Then, I decided myself that I didn´t want to go there, but 2 yrs. later, I had to go for the intensive military exams in Germany and the female doctor there was shocked when she saw me naked and said I woulld look "like I would have dozens of melanoma!" It was a great shock and a hard moment for me, like my whole world would be crashed! This doctor was so shure that I would have melanoma, so that I was sent to further more exams into a clinic to a complete and very thorough dermatological/mole exam (and to some other doctors because of other diagnosis). I got surgery of 6 questionnable cancerous looking moles, fortunately all came back as "strong dysplastic" or "precancerous lesions"! This was really a warning for me!
Another point I have to agree with is "it would be great if they drilled to go to doctors into us in school along other health talks. In my school time I remember we had yearly school exams (I always got a letter from the school doctors for my mother that she had to go to furtehr more exams to the pediatrician and dermatologist with me!), none of us liked the school exams, but now I have to say, that they are so important, too, to get these importance for regular checkups as early as possible.