Skin cancer rates increase by 45% in the UK since 2014



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Melanoma skin cancer rates have increased 35% for women and 55% for men in the United Kingdom since 2004, a 45% increase in the incidence rate, according to a study from Cancer Research UK.

Although melanoma is even more common among adults over 65, rates for patients aged 25 to 49 have increased 70% since the 1990s, according to the press release.

The awareness of melanoma is growing and more and more people are being diagnosed and treated. Melanoma is the second most common cancer among people aged 25 to 49 and the fifth most common cancer in the UK.

Nearly 90% of melanoma cases could be prevented if people took more initiative to take care of their skin in the sun. A single sunburn every two years can triple the risk of melanoma, according to the statement.

The group announced this data with the launch of its "Choose Your Own" campaign, to encourage people to adopt their natural complexion and protect their skin from the effects of the sun. The media campaign offers tips on protecting the skin in the sun, eliminates myths about sun safety and offers additional articles as well as a glimpse into #ownyourtone.

In the United States, melanoma rates have been increasing for 30 years, according to the American Cancer Society, which estimates that 96,480 new cases of melanoma of the skin this year. Melanoma is more than 20 times more common among whites than among blacks. The risk of developing melanoma in the course of life is about 2.6% for whites, 0.1% for blacks and 0.58% for Hispanics.

In the United States, the average age of diagnosis is 63, but melanoma is not uncommon, even in people under 30 years of age. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 7,230 people would die of melanoma this year, or about 4,740 men and 2,490 women.

"[While] the racial gap in cancer mortality is slowly narrowing, socioeconomic inequalities are widening, with the most notable gaps being observed for the most preventable cancers, "said the president. Rebecca L. Siegel, MPH, Scientific Director of Surveillance Research at the American Cancer Society, and his colleagues wrote in CA: A cancer journal for clinicians earlier this year.

The 5-year relative survival rate for all combined stages of cutaneous melanoma is 92%, followed by 98% prostate cancer, according to Siegel and colleagues.

Black patients have the greatest disparities in survival rates for melanoma (26%), due to the diagnosis much later, they wrote.

"Although the racial gap in cancer mortality is slowly narrowing, socio-economic inequities are widening as residents of the poorest countries face an increasingly disproportionate burden of the most preventable cancers," wrote Siegel and his colleagues. . – by Abigail Sutton

Reference:

Siegel RL et al. CA Cancer J Clin. 2019; doi: 10.3322 / caac.21551.

Disclosures: Siegel and his colleagues are employed by the American Cancer Society.

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