Most skin cancer is avoidable: dermatologists
Last Updated: Friday, May 31, 2002 | 1:41 PM ET
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About one in six Canadians will develop some form of the disease in their lifetime.
"People have to remember skin cancer is a condition that affects all ages," says Toronto dermatologist Paul Cohen. "It is commonly diagnosed in people between 20 and 50. The majority of skin cancers can be prevented as long as you adopt safe sun behaviour."
- CONSUMER TIPS: Sunscreen
Dermatologists predict about 3,900 Canadians will develop melanoma, the deadliest form of the disease, this year, while 840 people are expected to die. An estimated 72,000 Canadians will develop non-melanoma skin cancer, which has a low death rate.
Cohen says melanoma is 95 per cent treatable by surgery if it is caught early enough. But if it has spread to other parts of the body, there is no treatment for it.
The other two major forms of skin cancer — basal cell skin cancer and squamous cell carcinoma — are also treatable with surgery.
"We think about 60 to 70 per cent of cases of skin cancer can be avoided by a safer lifestyle," says Cohen "People should use a sunscreen of at least SPF 15 and it should be applied in a thick layer."
He suggests people should keep re-applying their sunscreen throughout the day.
They should also wear a hat, sunglasses and seek shade when outside. It is also good to avoid the sun when it's strongest, generally from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Cohen says people should be aware it takes 10 to 25 years after exposure before any sign of skin cancer or damage develops.
Some people are more susceptible to skin cancer than others and have a genetic predisposition to it.
You have an increased risk of getting melanoma if you:
- have a family history of melanoma
- burn easily when you go out in the sun
- have fair skin and/or freckles or a lot of moles
- have had a childhood sunburn
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