The Skin Cancer Foundation Journal

MAY 2014

The 2012 edition of The Skin Cancer Foundation Journal features medically reviewed, reader-friendly articles such as tanning, the increasing incidence of skin cancer diagnoses among young women, & the prevalence of melanoma among white males over 50.

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7 hirty-fve years ago when I found- ed The Skin Cancer Foundation, it was common to fnd sunbathers at the beach or poolside slathered in baby oil, holding up aluminum sun refectors and scorching their skin in order to tan. Today, such a sight would make heads turn. But even though the refectors and baby oil have gone the way of the Edsel, people's use of sun protection remains inconsistent, and tanning machines have created an entirely new way for them to damage their skin. Though we have come a long way in our understand- ing of the dangers of ultraviolet ra- diation (UVR), there is still a long way to go. At the Foundation, we have never fagged in our mission to keep the public and medical community informed about the latest in skin cancer prevention, early detection and treatment. Nine million people visit our website SkinCancer.org each year, and our new Spanish-language website, CancerdePiel.org , is reaching tens of thousands of Hispanics. Our publications go to dermatologists' of- fces across the country, and millions of readers have seen the public service print ads for our campaigns "Go with Your Own Glow" (anti-tanning ads aimed at women) and "Sun Blunders" (sun protection ads aimed at men) in major magazines. Thousands of people across the US each year climb aboard our Road to Healthy Skin Tour RV to have their skin checked head to toe by our volun- teer dermatologists. This all has helped impart awareness to Americans, but a disconnect still exists between knowing what needs to be done and actually doing it. Though skin cancer is largely a preventable disease, more than 3.5 million cases are diag- nosed in the US each year, and the three most common forms of the disease — basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma — are still on the rise. Above all, these stubbornly rising fgures can be attributed to behavior: only a third of adults usually apply sunscreen, only 41 percent wear efective sun-protective clothing and less than a third report seeking shade. Young people, especially white females, use tanning beds at alarming rates, and their soar- ing skin cancer incidence coincides closely with increased tanning. Yet there are many reasons to be encouraged, and as so often is the case, science leads the way. With a wave of new treatments for advanced, meta- static melanoma approved in the past few years, many patients who former- ly would have lived a few months are now surviving 5-10 years or longer. An even greater reason more mela- noma patients are beating the disease is that they are discovering it earlier. More people are checking their skin regularly for suspicious growths and going in for professional skin exams. Science has also made major strides in sun protection. Consumers can now buy special window flm and window glass for their cars that defect virtually all UV rays. Clothing manufacturers are harnessing the latest textile tech- nologies to produce dedicated sun-protective clothing that shuts out UV without sacrifcing style or comfort. Now we have to do away with the tanning culture. The concept of a "healthy tan" is misguided, since a tan is any- thing but healthy. It results from DNA damage to the skin cells; it increases skin cancer risks and ages your skin before its time. People have to stay out of tanning beds and make sun protection a regular, daily part of skin care. Simple life- style changes like seeking shade and wearing sunscreen and sun-protective clothing aren't really a burden; in fact, how is staying cooler, healthier, and skin cancer-free not a relief ? Finally, a growing number of proudly untanned actresses from Anne Hathaway to Scarlett Johansson are paving the way, showing how beautiful we can be if we practice these precepts. All we have to do is follow their lead. President The Skin Cancer Foundation President's Message 2014 Journal People have to stay out of tanning beds and make sun protection a regular, daily part of skin care.

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