Despite the warnings, more women battling skin cancer

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Updated: October 1, 2011 12:38AM

Just because someone is college-educated doesn’t mean he or she is cancer smart.

Young, educated, higher-income white woman are six times as likely as normal to develop deadly melanoma skin cancer, according to a recent study. Those rates have doubled in the past three decades.

The Cancer Prevention Institute of California studied almost 4,000 American women under the age of 40 who had been diagnosed with melanoma.

The study suggests the reason for the higher rates of cancer in this socioeconomic group may be due to higher income women spending more time in leisure activities outdoors than they did 30 years ago. Tanning beds are also thought to play a role, as are tropical vacations in high-UV climates enjoyed by those who have a higher than average income level.

It’s ironic, said Morris Hospital oncologist Dr. Nafisa Burhani, that women work so hard to get a tan to look better, when melanoma can leave its victims so disfigured. Melanoma is a skin cancer that is very invasive, she said.

“Melanoma can be very disfiguring,” Burhani said. “You need a wide excision area that can result in disfigurement. It can get ugly.

“It’s also a very smart cancer. Even if you resect it, the risk of it spreading to other parts of the body is great. There is a high risk of recurrence, even after 10 or 20 years.”

Tanning beds are harmful

The treatments for this particular type of cancer are limited, as well, she added, and are not easy to take. Treatments can include cutting it out of the area in the skin in which it originated, radiation and chemotherapy.

Burhani said this is why so many medical professionals stress wearing sunscreen. The sun’s ultraviolet rays are nothing to mess with or to use for cosmetic reasons.

“All exposure to the sun is harmful,” she said, “and tanning salons are very unhealthy … There is no doubt that tanning salons increase the risk of melanoma.”

Burhani said there are many studies that have shown that getting exposed to ultraviolet rays in a tanning booth is just as harmful as the ultraviolet rays from the sun. And for those who use the excuse of getting more vitamin D from the sun, there are pills, she said.

Being outside in the sunshine does help you mood and your endorphin levels, she added, and Burhani said even she doesn’t go overboard with sunscreen if she’s only in it for a few minutes, but for those who are going out for more than that, sunscreen is important.

Who is most at risk?

Burhani said another thing about the study that concerns her is the increase in younger women developing melanoma. The cancer is increasing faster in females 15-29 years old than in males, and it’s the most common form of cancer in young adults ages 25-29 and the second most common cancer in those ages 15-29.

For the younger population, she said, the risk is much higher. When you are exposed as a child, you have a higher risk as an adult. We have to educate our young girls better, she said. We can make a bigger difference at this early age.

“We need a big cultural change,” she said.

Young women need to begin to accept the color of their skin, she said, and not expose themselves to big health dangers just to change that. Burhani said she sees quite a few younger women in her office who go to tanning salons. She shows them pictures of women who are going through melanoma.

You can get darker with cosmetics, she said of those who feel they really need to change the color of their skin. Spray tans are also perfectly safe, she added.

Wearing a good sunscreen with SPFs of 15, 30 or 45 is smart, she said, depending on how long you will be out in the sun and how light your skin is to begin with. Protection using sunscreen, hats, and long sleeves becomes even more important if you have a family history of skin cancer.

Burhani also advised staying inside between noon and 2 p.m., keeping in shaded areas as much as possible, and keeping hydrated when in the sun.

All is not gloom and doom. Burhani said the good news is that there may be some melanoma treatments in the works that may help those who develop the cancer in the future.