Don’t Fry Day (Friday before Memorial Day): May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month

Rates for melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer, are rapidly rising. Melanoma can be cured if caught early but very difficult to treat at later stages when it has spread. In 2020:

• About 100,350 new melanomas will be diagnosed (60,190 in men and 40,160 in women).
• About 6,850 people are expected to die of melanoma (4,610 men and 2,240 women).

In general, skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S. and is caused by excess exposure to UV rays from the sun or other sources, such as indoor tanning devices.

Melanoma incidence rates are higher in women than in men before age 50, but by age 65, rates for men double those for women, and by age 80, they triple. This may reflect differences in men’s and women’s occupational and recreational exposure to UV radiation (golf, tennis, swimming, outdoor jobs, indoor tanning, etc.) and early detection practices and health care use that differs between men and women, according to the American Cancer Society.

Don’t Fry Day is the Friday before Memorial Day – May 22, 2020. Ways to protect your skin from harmful UV radiation, including seeking shade when possible, wearing protective clothing, generously applying sunscreen (SPF 30 or higher with broad spectrum protection), and not letting your skin tan or burn. Avoid the sun when UV rays are strongest, from 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. And practice:

SLIP! SLOP! SLAP!® & WRAP! the American Cancer Society’s Prevention Campaign:

* Slip on a shirt: wear clothing to protect as much skin as possible. Ideal fabrics are lightweight and protect against exposure even when wet.

* Slop on sunscreen with an SPF of 30+: look for sunscreen with broad spectrum protection to guard against UVA and UVB rays.

* Slap on a hat: wide-brimmed to protect neck, ears, eyes, forehead, nose and scalp.

* Wrap on sunglasses with at least 99% UV protection to block UVA and UVB rays.

Risk factors for skin cancer include:

• Excess exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation (from sunlight or indoor tanning devices)
• Pale skin (easily sunburned, doesn’t tan much or at all, natural red or blond hair)
• Exposure to large amounts of coal tar, paraffin, arsenic compounds, or certain types of oil
• You or members of your family have had skin cancers
• Multiple or unusual moles
• Severe sunburns in the past
• Weakened immune system
• Older age (although melanomas can also occur in younger people)

Signs and symptoms of skin cancer:

• Any change on your skin, especially in the size or color of a mole, growth, or spot, or a new growth (even if it has no color)
• Scaliness, roughness, oozing, bleeding, or a change in the way an area of skin looks
• A sore that doesn’t heal
• Spread of pigmentation (color) beyond its border, such as dark coloring that spreads past the edge of a mole or mark
• Change in sensation, such as itchiness, tenderness, or pain

What are basal and squamous cell skin cancers?

They start in the outer layer of the skin in the basal cells or squamous cells, developing on sun-exposed areas of the skin, like the face, ears, neck, lips, and the backs of the hands. Basal cell cancers tend to grow slowly and rarely spread to other parts of the body. Squamous cell cancers are more likely to grow into deeper layers of skin and spread, although this is still not common.

Both basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers can be cured if found and treated early – when they are small and have not spread.

What is melanoma skin cancer?

Melanoma is a cancer that begins in the melanocytes – the cells that make the brown skin pigment known as melanin, which gives the skin its color and helps protect the skin from sun. Melanoma can start on nearly any part of the skin, even in places not normally exposed to the sun, such as the genital or anal areas. It can also start under the nails or in the eyes or mouth.

Although it is almost always curable when it’s found in its very early stages, melanoma is much more likely to grow and spread to other parts of the body, where it can be hard to treat.