According to a recent study released by the Fox Chase Cancer Center, most American adults engage in many behaviors that increase their exposure to UV rays and boost their risk of skin cancer.
These behaviors include infrequent use of UV and sun protective clothing; staying outside in the sun rather than seeking shade; infrequent use of sunscreen; indoor tanning with a sunlamp or tanning bed within the past year; and getting sunburned within the past year.
Whether you’re hanging out on the beach during vacation, coasting down glittering white snow on a winter ski trip, walking your dog or just running errands, the sun’s ultraviolet rays can damage your skin year-round…
Collectively, skin cancer of all types is the most common cancer in the United States and the incidence has increased over the past three decades. During 2007, an estimated 1.1 million Americans received a diagnosis of basal or squamous skin cancer, or the more invasive and potentially lethal melanoma, according to the American Cancer Society.
While heredity plays a role in skin cancer, simple overexposure to ultraviolet light, (something controlled by behavior), is a major factor in increased skin cancer risk according to Fox Chase psychologist Elliot Coups, Ph.D., (an assistant member in the psycho-oncology program at Fox Chase and lead author of the new study).
A non- controlled or heredity portrait of someone at risk of skin cancer would show a natural blonde or redhead with very fair skin that freckles and burns more easily than it tans. Also, melanoma, in particular, is known to run in certain families.
The Fox Chase researchers found that younger adults were particularly likely to engage in multiple behaviors that increase skin cancer risk. Men, Caucasians, smokers, persons who consume high levels of alcohol and persons who report having skin that is not especially sensitive to the sun were also more likely to engage in behaviors that placed them at increased skin cancer risk.
“Since the UV damage to the skin is cumulative, lack of protection by young people is likely to drive a continued increase in skin cancers as these generations grow older over the next decades,” noted Stuart R. Lessin, M.D., director of dermatology at Fox Chase. “This new research on behavior relating to skin cancer risk may help us target the highest-risk groups with educational messages tailored for them.”
“Ultraviolet radiation exposure is the most important modifiable risk factor for all types of skin cancer,” Coups said. “Wearing protective clothing like a wide-brimmed hat, avoiding sun exposure during the middle of the day, when rays are strongest, seeking shade, using sunscreen and avoiding indoor tanning have all been recommended by various agencies, but all available data suggest that the majority of American adults don’t follow this advice and instead have high rates of UV exposure and sunburns.”
Data for the study came from the 2005 National Health Interview Survey, an annual representative U.S. health survey in which 31,428 individuals participated. The researchers excluded individuals who had already had skin cancer or whose questionnaires contained missing data in key areas of the study, resulting in a study sample of 28,235 individuals.
The report appeared Jan. 8 in the online edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and in the February 2008 issue of the print edition.