A day on the lake, an afternoon of yard work, watching a baseball game; these are all events that can put us in direct sunlight. But with a 200 percent increase in melanoma diagnoses since the 1970s, we may need to take more precaution when it comes to the sun.
Fortunately, there have been improvements in diagnosis and treatment over the past few decades.This week on “Take Care,” Dr. Lynn Schuchter explains the rise in melanoma and gives us the latest on treatment and prevention. Schuchter is the medicine division chief of hematology-oncology at Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. She also leads the melanoma program at the university, and is a professor of hematology-oncology.
Although some of our risk formelanoma may be genetic, there are other factors that play a role.
“In part it’s related to greater exposure of the sun,” Schuchter said. “There’s also growing evidence that the increased use of tanning salons…has been linked to the growing incidents of melanoma in young women.”
Most of the time melanoma isn’t going to show up after one sunburn or use of the tanning salon, but Schuchter says many delayed diagnoses have been linked to UV exposure at an earlier time in our lives. For example, the median age of melanoma patients is around 50, but the process of skin cells turning cancerous could be something that starts in childhood, according to Schuchter.
“There’s some relationship between the kind of exposure and later risk for melanoma,” Schuchter said. “It’s excessive burning,it’s blistering sunburn.”
But Schuchter says it’s never too late to take preventive measures.
“There is very good data that decreasing sun exposure, even in your 50s, can decrease the risk of melanoma and other types of skin cancer,” Schuchter said.
She also adds that increased surveillance of your skin by a practitioner or yourself can help prevent the disease.
“The majority of patients with melanoma are cured with simple surgery—removal of it. The key is early detection,” Schuchter said.
However, unlike other diseases our bodies can build immunity to after we’re exposed, once you’ve had melanoma you are at a much higher risk of developing the disease a second time, according to Schuchter. In other words, removal of the cancer doesn’t give you the green light to slather on tanning oil and lay in the sun for hours. Higher risk patients can also include those who are more susceptible to moles, says Schuchter.
Although melanoma can now be treated if caught early enough, it can have a very serious outcome if it’s not. The disease can spread to other organs of his body. Schuchter stresses the importance of examining your skin on a regular basis to check for signs of melanoma.
