Mortality rates for skin cancer are increasing, especially in men – a study

This aerial photo of 1,700 beach towels each carrying the silhouette of a "corpse" with chalk, symbolizing the annual number of deaths related to skin cancer in Australia, exposed by the Cancer Council on Bondi Beach in Sydney on November 15, 2009. The event was designed to raise awareness of the dangers of tanning in Australia, where nearly half of teens still believe that a tan looks healthy. AFP FILE

PARIS, France – Mortality from skin cancer among men has increased dramatically in rich countries since 1985. Women's death rates have increased more slowly or even decreased, researchers said at a medical conference held in Glasgow on Sunday.

The reasons for the gender discordance are unclear, but evidence suggests that men are "less likely to protect themselves from the sun" or allow for public health warnings, said AFP Dorothy Yang, Principal Investigator of the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust in London.

According to the American Center for Disease Control (CDC), more than 90% of melanoma cancers are caused by skin lesions due to exposure to the sun or other sources of ultraviolet (UV) light, such as than tanning beds.

In eight of the 18 countries examined, the skin cancer mortality rate for men has increased by at least 50% in three decades.

In two countries – Ireland and Croatia – it has roughly doubled.

Spain and Great Britain (70%), the Netherlands (60%), as well as France and Belgium (50%) also recorded strong growth.

In the United States, which was not included in the study, mortality from male melanoma increased by about 25%, according to CDC statistics.

But new research has shown that countries with the highest increase in skin cancer deaths do not have the highest mortality rates.

Ozone hole silver lining

In Australia, for example, nearly six out of every 100,000 men died of the disease in 2013-2015. This is twice the second highest mortality rate (Finland), but only an increase of 10% over 30 years earlier.

"Since the beginning of the 1970s, Australia has launched public health media campaigns to promote" intelligent behavior against the sun, "Yang told AFP by telephone before presenting his data at the 2018 conference. of the National Cancer Research Institute in the United Kingdom.

As debates continue on Australia's record skin cancer rate, which stems from the depletion of the ozone layer filtering ultraviolet radiation into the stratosphere, 30 years of public health campaigns have undoubtedly sensitized Australians to the dangers.

The so-called "hole in the ozone layer" was particularly important in Australia when efforts were launched.

In Australia, the number of deaths from skin cancer among women in 1985 was half that of men and decreased by 10% over the next 30 years, reported Yang and three of her colleagues.

Austria (9%), the Czech Republic (16%) and Israel (23%) also experienced a decline in female mortality due to the disease during the same period. In several other countries – Romania, Sweden and Great Britain – there have been slight increases.

However, in some sun-loving countries, the death rate for women has at least increased as much as men: in the Netherlands (58%), Ireland (49%), Belgium (67%) and Spain (74%). percent).

Japan has by far the lowest melanoma death rate among men and women at 0.24 and 0.18 per 100,000, respectively.

Scientists are investigating whether biological or genetic factors could also play a role in skin cancer, but the results obtained so far are inconclusive, Yang said. / cbb

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