Commonly used painkillers [Aspirin] may protect against skin cancer

Commonly used painkillers may protect against skin cancer

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crabsallover highlights, key points, comments / links.

NICE issues new guidance on preventing skin cancer

reposted from: http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/archive/cancernews/2011-01-27-NICE-issues-new-guidance-on-preventing-skin-cancer-?rss=true

crabsallover highlights, key points, comments / links.

Thursday 27 January 2011

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published new guidelines to help the NHS, local authorities and other organisations in their work to prevent skin cancer.

The guidelines say that some sun exposure is important, as it allows people to make vitamin D as well as providing an opportunity to be physically active.

But too much exposure to UV light is known to increase the risk of skin cancer.

Professor Mike Kelly, director of the institute's Centre for Public Health Excellence, revealed that about 100,000 people each year are diagnosed with non-melanoma skin cancer and over 10,000 with malignant melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer.

He explained: "Through this guidance we hope to raise awareness of the risks of UV exposure and help people to protect themselves and others.

"Simple actions can greatly reduce the risk of developing skin cancer - opting to stay in the shade, wearing protective clothing in the sun, avoiding too much sun during the middle of the day and using sunscreen can all have an effect."

The guidance contains simple and practical recommendations for preventing over-exposure to the sun.

For instance, developers should attempt to create shaded areas around buildings, while schools should encourage children to use sunscreen and stay in the shade during breaks.

Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, said that avoiding sunburn is one of the best ways to reduce the risk of skin cancer.

"Many of us like to make the most of the UK's rare sunny days and should be able to enjoy the sun safely.

"If we all make sure that our skin doesn't redden or burn in the sun, it could help to reduce the rocketing number of people who develop skin cancer every year. And that's the aim of Cancer Research UK's annual SunSmart campaign."

Pensioners spot skin cancer symptoms too late

reposted from: http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/news/archive/pressrelease/pensioners-spot-skin-cancer-symptoms-too-late?rss=true

crabsallover highlights

Monday 29 November 2010

Cancer Research UK Press Release

Failure to get moles and skin changes checked out by a doctor has contributed to a steep rise in deaths from malignant melanoma among pensioners, experts warned today (Tuesday).

The mortality rate in over 65s dying from the most dangerous kind of skin cancer has almost tripled in the last 30 years according to Cancer Research UK.

Figures from the East of England Cancer Registry (ECRIC*) showed that the over 65s were more likely to be diagnosed with melanoma at a late stage compared with younger people.

The later skin cancer is detected, the more likely it is to spread and the harder it becomes to treat.

Caroline Cerny, Cancer Research UK's SunSmart campaign manager, said: "While the risk of skin cancer increases with age, the fact that so many over 65s are being diagnosed when the disease is advanced means that older people need to keep a close eye on any changes to their skin or moles to avoid late diagnosis. The earlier the cancer is diagnosed the easier it will be to treat.

"People should be aware of the basic warning signs for malignant melanoma. If a mole is as big as a pencil-top eraser, bleeds, is sore or itchy, uneven in colour or has jagged edges then people should visit their GP without delay."

Cancer Research UK found that there was a steeper increase in the number of cases of malignant melanoma in the over 65s compared to younger people which also contributed to the threefold increase in deaths.

Data from ECRIC showed that for every year since 1997, significantly more people aged 65 and over have been diagnosed with malignant melanoma at a late stage than those under 65.

In recent years, around seven per cent of 15-64 year olds were diagnosed with late stage malignant melanoma compared with around 20 per cent of people over 65.

Dr Jem Rashbass, director of ECRIC, said: "We know that late diagnosis is a problem in this country and this is likely to be a combination of a number of factors. An important part of the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI)** is to ensure we develop the evidence both to help us understand the key reasons for delays and find the right approaches to improve earlier diagnosis."

Although there have been some improvements in the number of over 65 year olds being diagnosed with melanoma at a late stage***, the figures suggest that more needs to be done to raise awareness about skin cancer among this generally retired population.

Cancer Research UK figures showed that the rate of people aged 65 and over dying from melanoma in the UK rose from four deaths per 100,000 people in 1979 to 11.4 deaths per 100,000 people in 2008.

In contrast, the death rate for people aged 15-64 has remained stable over the same period at around 2 deaths per 100,000 people.

The five-fold increase over the last 30 years in the number of malignant melanoma cases among the over 65s showed that people need to be careful in the sun now to protect their skin against the disease in years to come.

Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, said: "It can take decades for skin cancer to develop so to avoid developing the disease in the future, it is vitally important for young people to be aware that not protecting their skin from sunburn while they are young can increase the risk of melanoma later in life.

"Melanoma is a largely preventable disease; people can reduce their chance of getting skin cancer in the first place if they protect their skin from sunburn. Summer may be over, but the damage to skin cells shown by sunburn can remain long after the redness fades."

ENDS

For media enquiries please contact Angela Balakrishnan on 020 3469 8311 or, out-of-hours, the duty press officer on 07050 264 059.

Notes to editors

*Eastern Cancer Registry and Information Centre (ECRIC) is the regional cancer registry covering the east of England government office region. At present good quality national staging data are unavailable; and so regional data from ECRIC has been used. www.ecric.org.uk

The age-standardised incidence rate of malignant melanoma over the last 30 years in people aged 65 and over in Great Britain has increased from 8.5 per 100,000 people in 1978 to 45.3 per 100,000 people in 2007.

In contrast, the age-standardised incidence rate in people aged 15-64 over the same period has risen from 4 per 100,000 people to 14 per 100,000 people.

**NAEDI is a public sector/third sector partnership between the Department of Health, National Cancer Action Team, and Cancer Research UK formed in 2007.

***Stages for malignant melanoma were broken down as: early – stages 1 or 2 and late – stages 3 or 4, based on tumour size, whether the cancer had spread to nearby nodes or whether it had spread more widely around the body.

Since 1990 there has been a one per cent decrease each year in the number of over 65s being diagnosed with malignant melanoma at a late stage.http://info.cancerresearchuk.org/cancerstats/types/skin/incidence/

For more information about Cancer Research UK's SunSmart campaign visit www.sunsmart.org.uk

Deadly skin cancer cases rising

Deadly skin cancer cases rising

Binge tanning at home and abroad is blamed for the rise 

Binge tanning has caused the number of Britons diagnosed with the deadliest form of skin cancer to top 10,000 each year, Cancer Research UK has said. 

The number of people diagnosed with malignant melanoma rose by 650 in one year, taking the total to 10,410 in 2006, the most recent available figure. The charity predicts this number will rise to more than 15,500 by 2024. This would make malignant melanoma the fourth most common cancer among men and women in the UK. In the last 30 years rates of the cancer have more than quadrupled, from 3.4 cases per 100,000 people in 1977 to 14.7 per 100,000 in 2006. 

Sun safety 

Women are more likely to be diagnosed than men: 5,600 are diagnosed each year compared with 4,800 men. But men are more likely to die from the cancer, and rates of diagnosis among them have risen fivefold, whereas in women they have more than tripled. Sara Hiom, Cancer Research UK's director of health information, said: "These figures show that a worrying number of people are being diagnosed with this potentially fatal disease. 

"With the rates of malignant melanoma in the UK rising faster than any other cancer, it's more important than ever that people are aware of the dangers of getting burnt, either in the sun or from using sunbeds." 

She said most melanoma skin cancers were caused by over-exposure to UV rays given off by the sun and sunbeds. But crucially, 

most cases could be prevented if people took care not to redden or burn, especially if they have skin which is fair or freckly or has many moles. She added: "We advise people to enjoy the sun safely by spending time in the shade in the middle of the day, covering up with appropriate cool clothing and sunglasses and applying plenty of sun cream of at least factor 15."