75 percent of melanoma skin cancer cases can be traced back to too much UV radiation
While the number of cases of melanoma skin cancer, that is, malignant skin cancer, continues to rise in Europe, it appears to be falling in North America and Oceania. A group of scientists from France, Columbia, Brisbane, Atlanta and Great Britain investigated the causes of this. They examined how cases of malignant melanoma in different parts of the world had developed over the past few years.
What was investigated?
Now it is difficult to say for an entire population how much UV radiation it is exposed to. Data that break down every citizen of a city, when and for what time UV index and with what protective measures was in the sun, there is no. Furthermore, there is no people who can live completely without the influence of the sun. So the investigation had to find another way to analyze the risks.
The approach
So the scientists looked at diagnoses of black skin cancer in the context of country, age, and gender for 2012. They compared these with a reference cohort from Great Britain born in 1903. They chose this time because it was customary at the time for clothing to cover almost the entire body. The researchers found: Of the people who lived around 1903, only one in 100,000 suffered from malignant skin cancer.
To make a comparison, the scientists used the GLOBOCAN 2012 survey, which collected all countries with at least ten melanoma cases and their number of cases - 153 countries and 96 percent of melanoma exposure worldwide.
In a second analysis, the scientists now concluded how many of the cases of melanoma skin cancer could have been prevented if those affected experienced case rates similar to those in countries in the sub-Saharan region. The South African population is highly pigmented, mostly dark-skinned, and experiences fewer cases of melanoma formation.
The results of the study on melanoma skin cancer
Their analyzes show that of the melanoma cases newly diagnosed in 2012, around 75 percent can be attributed to UVR exposure. In relation to all new cancer cases, that is more than one percent that can be directly linked to UV radiation. More than 90 percent of melanoma skin cancer cases occur in very highly developed countries. The age groups between 50 and 69 years and more men than women are particularly affected.
The group's vote: We urgently need to educate more, protect ourselves better and talk about the influence of UV rays. In this way, according to the scientists, the number of cases in this country could also be reduced to the level of the less endangered regions. Not only light skin types are particularly at risk, but also our exposure to the sun - frequent sunbathing, very short clothes on warm days that expose the skin to a lot of the sun, the tendency to choose sunny areas as vacation spots - are indicators.
The study places particular emphasis on emphasizing that parents in particular need to be careful about how much UV radiation their children are exposed to, since our skin is very susceptible to cancer in childhood and adolescence.
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