Dramatic Rise in Skin Cancer Among Young Adults
Saturday, April 07, 2012
Even as the rates of some cancers are falling, a new study from the Mayo Clinic reports an alarming trend: the dramatic rise of skin cancer, especially among people under 40. According to the study published in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the incidence of melanoma has escalated, and young women are the hardest hit.
“We anticipated we’d find rising rates, as other studies are suggesting, but we found an even higher incidence than the National Cancer Institute had reported using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Result database, and in particular, a dramatic rise in women in their 20s and 30s,” said lead investigator Jerry Brewer, M.D., a Mayo Clinic dermatologist. Researchers conducted a population-based study using records from the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a decades-long database of all patient care in Olmsted County, MN. They looked for first-time diagnoses of melanoma in patients 18 to 39 from 1970 to 2009. The study found the incidence of melanoma increased eightfold among young women and fourfold among young men. The lifetime risk of melanoma is higher in males than females, but the opposite is true in young adults and adolescents, Dr. Brewer said.
Rhode Island: bad news as well
"There is no question that the rising incidence of melanoma as reported in the recent Mayo Clinic study is being experienced in Rhode Island and nationwide," said Charles McDonald, M.D., chief of the department of dermatology at Rhode Island Hospital. "At present, young women lead the pack. This is not a new phenomenon, however. Several years ago the nation of Iceland found it necessary to curb the use of tanning beds in its young female population as a result of an 'outbreak' of melanomas in that population."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Mayo Clinic study speculates that the use of indoor tanning beds is a key culprit in the rising cancer rate in young women. "It is generally believed that the increasing use of indoor tanning beds and devices is in part responsible for the increasing incidence of melanomas," Dr. McDonald said. "However, for the past several years, nationwide, melanoma has become the most commonly occurring cancer in young women, exceeding that of cervical, uterine, etc. Hence, we must also consider outdoor tanning as a culprit in the rising incidence."
No more teen tanning in RI
Doctor McDonald noted that Rhode Island's recent legislation restricting the use of tanning beds by the under age 18 population was supported by members of his department. "That legislation was led by members of our faculty in dermatology and by our senior dermatology resident who himself developed melanoma during residency at another institution," Dr. McDonald said. "He was a chronic user of tanning beds during adolescence."
But that ban only extends to age 18. A huge challenge with young women remains, said Dr. McDonald. "In approaching the young female population and the ill effects of overexposure to sunlight and other sources of ultraviolet light," he said, "I often feel that the best approach to our young female populations is to emphasize and re-emphasize that aging of the skin is due principally to overexposure to sunlight over a lifetime.
Prevention, prevention, prevention
“This new study from the Mayo Clinic highlights the importance of rigorous prevention when it comes to skin cancer," said Douglas Harrison, MD, director of outpatient pediatric hematology and oncology services at Hasbro Children's Hospital. "The incidence of melanoma not only continues to increase in young adults, but in children as well. It proves what we have known for a long time, that frequent childhood sunburns increase the risk of melanoma in adulthood."
The most important way to prevent this increased risk is frequent application of sunscreen and avoidance of sunburns, said Dr. Harrison. "With the summer approaching, it is essential that we, as physicians, continue to get the word out to parents about consistent skin protection to avoid increased risk of melanoma in the future.”
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