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Sun Shy
Understanding and Preventing Melanoma
By Aneema Van Groenou, M.D.
We women pride ourselves on our skin care and spend countless dollars on creams, facials and makeup. We worship sunshine and envy the perfect bronzed tan. But one of the worst threats to our skin, a dangerous skin cancer called melanoma, is linked to sun exposure – and its best prevention is practically free.
Melanoma is a serious form of skin cancer. It occurs in melanocytes – the pigment cells in the skin that make melanin, which gives our skin its color. Melanoma is pretty rare: only 4 percent of all skin cancer is melanoma, but it is dangerous. Melanoma causes the most skin cancer deaths.
The good news is that you can reduce your risk for melanoma by taking some simple precautions, like excellent skin protection in the sun. With routine physical exams and careful checks of your own skin, you can also detect melanoma early. Treatment of melanoma in its early stages is often a cure.
About 14 in every 1,000 Americans will get melanoma this year. This number has been steadily increasing, nearly doubling since the early 1970s, according to the American Cancer Society.
Melanoma occurs more frequently in people with fair skin that burns or freckles easily. These people are more likely to also have fair hair and blue eyes. Another important risk factor – and one that we can control – is ultraviolet exposure. Ultraviolet radiation, or UV ray, exposure is greatest at high altitudes, like Denver, Colo., or in very sunny places, like the Southwestern United States.
Sunburns are another preventable risk factor for melanoma. Children and teenagers – as well as adults – who have had a few blistering sunburns are more likely to develop melanoma.
