Skin cancer epidemic underway in the US

Reuters Health ^ | Tue Apr 18, 2006 | Mayo Clinic Health Letter,

[tbird5]

There is an unrecognized epidemic of skin cancer underway in the United States, the American Academy of Dermatology warns.

One in five Americans will develop skin cancer, and a person's risk of the disease doubles if he or she has had five or more sunburns, according to a report in the April issue of the Mayo Clinic Health Letter.

Basal and squamous cell carcinomas, the most common and treatable types of skin cancers, had long been considered a problem only for people over 50, according to the report. But Mayo Clinic researchers found that the percentage of women under 40 with the more common type, basal cell, tripled between 1976 and 2003, while the rate of squamous cell cancers increased four-fold

[appalachian_dweller]

Yep. I was (am) very fair skinned. Would burn 4 or 5 times a summer. I used to live at the pool every summer. Some of my best childhood memories...first girlfriend, first kiss, etc...

[Court_Jester]

For what it's worth. After my "bout" with melanoma (fortunately they caught it early enough), my oncologist reminded me that "white" is a good color for me. He also told me that it wasn't my pale white skin that made me more susceptible, but rather my blue eyes.

It's been 7 years now, so my odds for survival are getting better.

[Mr Rogers]

No kidding. Add in trips to the beach, and later growing up in southern Arizona - I'm toast.

So to speak.

[MikefromOhio]

yeah...

never went to the beach much, too much baseball to play :)

And then after baseball it was time for 2 - a - Days for football :)

[higgmeister]

If I stopped using them and went back to baby oil with a few drops of iodine,

Why wouldn't you just get out of the sun if you had precancerous spots?

Please consider it.

[Knute]

If that's the case, I should be dead already. I would always get a nasty sunburn EVERY summer when I was a kid, then it would turn to a deep tan.

The leading cause of death is....BIRTH! Get over it. We will all die, just a question of when and how.

It is not a universal truth" that in every person severe childhood sunburns will eventually lead to skin cancer. Some people beat the odds. Just like Russian Roulette, not EVERY player ends up losing, but WHY take the risk these days, now that we "know better"
I grew up in the 1950's. We were outdoors from sunrise until WELL beyond sunset every day of the summer. Playing baseball, riding bicycles, swimming, golfing... The recreational choices changed a little as years passed, but it was always outdoors... often without a shirt, rarely wearing a hat and NEVER using sunscreen, it was not yet perfected. Our mothers thought "a little color is good for you"

Fast forward to 2004. Age 52. A funny mole appears on my right cheek. I frequently nick it while shaving. Eventually my wife convinces me to see a dermatologist. He takes a biopsy sample with a worried expression and says he will contact me when the results are in. I get the call the day before Thanksgiving, ironically my mother's birthday. He tells me that I need to come to the office, "We need to talk". I receive the diagnosis. Malignant Melanoma, 1.72 mm thick. My dermatologist refers me to an oncologist and tells me that he will pray for me. The month of December is a whirlwind of sentinel node biopsy and wide local excision and all sorts of xrays and scans of the rest of my carcass. I had a large chunk of my face removed, directly in front of my right ear, including a large portion of the underlying parotid gland. The surgeon worked real hard to take a flap of skin from behind my ear to fill in the divot in front. The scar is not real noticeable in most situations. I see my new friend the oncologist every 3 months, Oh, I almost forgot daily injections of Interferon Alpha 2-B for the entire month of February 2005. The doctors WANTED to do those in January, but I had a certain inauguration to celebrate in Washington DC that winter! Interferon is a real beast. Take a shot (actually a 1000ml IV treatment) and you get sicker than a dog about two hours later and recover just about in time the next day to do it all over again!

I am getting longwinded and will simply conclude with this:
Outside my efforts to promote the election of true conservative candidates in my local city, my county, my state and my country, I spend a lot of time promoting skin cancer awareness, with the Melanoma Research Foundation as my choice of supportive organizations. I remain in a "No Evidence of Disease" status to date. That may remain, or could change. Several patients I have met since my diagnosis have not been so fortunate. Some have faced additional surgery, some experimental drug treatments and some have died. It (Melanoma) is the #1 cancer killer of young women under the age of 30. It CAN be drastically curtailed by following common sense guidelines. Let's USE the knowledge we have collectively gained since the 1950's!

[angcat]

West End 2!

[Lurking Libertarian]

God bless you, and thank you for the advice.

[appalachian_dweller]

Very sorry to hear of your melanoma Klute. I watched my mother undergo chemotherapy and radiation treatment when she had Hodgkin's. I've seen how bad the treatments make the recipient feel.

Please accept my deepest sympathies.

[GOP Poet]

I'll second that blessing Knute. Thank you for sharing this and also for the work you do to promote both conservatism and cancer awareness.

[Knute]

God bless you, and thank you for the advice

He has blessed me and my family immensely and continues to do so daily. The advice is in a hope to prevent similar pain in some young person 30 or more years from now, when the damage manifests itself...

[Knute]

Appreciate the sentiment. This post was not an appeal for sympathy, nor to call attention to myself. Skin cancer is a serious disease, but far too often it is dismissed with the word "ONLY". As in, "it's ONLY skin cancer" Yes, there are less serious forms of skin cancer. Basal cell and squamous cell rarely kill, but they still cause damage to human tissue that must be dealt with. Ever seen an 82 y/o lady with half her nose gone? Odds are good she was once a beautiful 17 year old sunning herself.

[ahayes]

I've unfortunately developed a sensitivity to several sunblocks, and I'm not sure which ones they are.

[petkus]

You might want to look at www.mpip.org

This web site is sponsored by the Melanoma Research Foundation.

It is quite comprehensive & has lot of good information!

Good Luck!

[Knute]

That's MY choice for a great source of Melanoma information and patient (and family) support!

[Savage Beast]

When I was a child and a teenager, I got sunburned at the beginning of every summer and got progressively darker until autumn. (I have rather light skin, blonde hair, blue eyes.)

Since college and, especially, medical school, I have not gotten sunburned. At first, I felt victimized because I had to work so hard, stay indoors, never go to the beach or the mountains or anywhere, while all the fun people were living it up with great suntans. Now I know I was lucky.

I have had no skin cancer.

I now put sunscreen on my face every morning after shaving, even if I plan to be indoors.

I don't like it (I would hate to have to wear makeup. To be a man--once again I'm lucky!), but I do it.

I went to the cosmetics counter with my wife. She helped me find some sunscreen that goes around the eyes. I put it around my eyes every morning.

If I'm going to be outside in the sun--boat, beach, mountains, ski, hike, have lunch--I glop on heavy duty sunscreen.

Not only does it help prevent skin cancer, it also helps prevent wrinkles and other sun damage.

I started doing this after consultation with colleagues, notably a friend who is a plastic surgeon, but I have plenty of experience with basal cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas, and melanomas myself. It's worth it.

[Bubba]

"I think diet has a lot to do with skin cancer too...."

It most important to pick you parents well.

[Roverman2K]

Sunglasses people. Think about it....how does your skin know when to produce melononin???? from the UV your eyes are picking up......
What do we all wear now and for years... UV blocking sunglasses.
Very simple concept, take them off frequently to allow your skin to do what it has done for millions of years.
Sunglasses..

[upchuck]

I've been fighting skin cancer, mostly on my bald head, for 30 years. Skin cancer is NOT fun. My head looks like a battle field. But that doesn't bother me much as I don't have to look at it much :)

Fortunately most of my cancers have been basal cell which are easily controlled with freezing via liquid nitrogen or burning via laser. Neither method is painless :)

I have had one squamous cell cancer on my forehead. Not fun. That one cost almost $10K to get rid of including the plastic surgery to repair the wound.

Stay away from tanning beds. From the article:

Tanning beds chiefly release UVA, although some also use UVB. According to the Mayo Clinic report, "occasional yet intense UVA exposure poses a greater risk of melanoma skin cancer than does spending long hours in the sun."

Wear sunscreen. At least SPF 30.

Yeah, yeah, if you're young a suntan is supposed to make you look sexy. Been there, done that. Believe me, my head, arms and the back of my hands are NOT sexy anymore, covered as they are with scars, etc.

[pnz1]

For some reason I am very paranoid about skin cancer. I try to have a checkup every couple of years, but still worry about it.