Each year in the UK, there are more than 65,000 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer and more than 8,000 new cases of malignant melanoma. Skin cancer is becoming more widespread: the number of cases has doubled in the past 20 years. In fact, there are more skin cancer deaths in the UK than in Australia, even though Australia has more cases of the disease.
Malignant melanoma is the most serious form of the disease since it can spread to other organs in the body. Melanoma is often pigmented (coloured) and can look like moles, which is why it’s important to seek advice if a mole changes shape and/or colouring. There are 3 types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma , and malignant melanoma.
Early discovery of skin cancer means a very good chance of curing it, whilst late discovery means treatment is usually not able to cure it. About 1,800 people die from skin cancer each year. There are a range of treatments available including surgical removal, chemotherapy, radiotherapy or biological therapy, depending on the type of skin cancer.
Malignant melanoma is more common in women than men, is one of the most common cancers in people aged 20 to 35 and affects people who work indoors more than those who work outside. Non-melanoma skin cancer affects men more than women, as well as older people, particularly those who have spent much time working outdoors. Too much sun exposure and getting sunburnt in childhood and the teenage years can lead to skin cancer in later life, so children in particular must be protected.
People with inherited skin diseases should be especially careful as they are the highest risk to to get skin cancer, along with fair skinned people with freckles and moles and who spend too long in the sun without any protection. Dark skinned people are the least likely to get skin cancer but even they should be careful and monitor the state of any moles they may have.
As it’s not always possible to differentiate between skin cancers and benign skin conditions by examination alone, you may need to have a biopsy. If it’s confirmed as cancer, it’ll be removed by surgery or radiotherapy, depending on its size and type.
Both UVA and UVB can cause skin cancer. In the old days sun creams only blocked out UVB, but nowadays many suncreams block out a lot of UVA as well as UVB.
The real issue though is that sun creams make people think that they can stay out in the sun for extended periods of time, thereby increasing their risk of skin cancer regardless of the protection.
