There has been a lot of excitement generated over some research published in the medical journal, Lancet Oncology this past Wednesday, which has moved tanning beds and ultra violet radiation into the top cancer risk category.

The fact is that that this has been a long time coming.

In May of 2000, the National Institute of Health added solar radiation and exposure to sun beds and sun lamps to the list of known carcinogens in America.  This was followed by a release in 2002 specifically stating that UVA, UVB and UVC were reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens.  Frequent tanners may receive as much as twelve times the UVA dose compared to what one normally receives from sun exposure.  Nearly 30 Million people use indoor tanning in the US annually.  Almost 10% are teens. Specifically, girls and women ages 16 to 29 make up 71% of the tanning salon patrons.  Amazingly, every day there is more than 1 million Americans using tanning salons.

In terms of our topic of choice, early first exposure to tanning beds increases the risk of melanoma by 75%.  People using tanning beds are 2.5% more likely to develop squamos cell carcinogens and 1.5% may develop basil cell carcinogens.

Taking all of this into consideration, I do support significant government regulation on indoor tanning. Until this occurs, I suggest that all people who engage in this risky behavior should be seen by their dermatologist and have their skin examined annually.

To schedule an appointment at a MoleSafe clinic, you can click here: http://www.molesafe.com/Left+Menu/Book+an+Appointment.html

The summer months keep the majority of people outside longer and staying active.  Whether at the beach or not, summer sports will have everyone keeping their eye on the ball rather than proper skin protection. With this in mind, I thought it would be helpful to reveal how many hours are spent playing summer’s most popular sports and provide some skin protection tips for each. Golfers should take a special interest in this – their sport of choice is by far the most sun exposed!

GOLF

• Game time begins at 10:00a.m.-typically runing through prime time sunshine hours.
• The steady pace of golf means you’ll need skin safety endurance: it’s most important to wear the right protective clothing to shield UV rays in combination with applying sunscreen every 2 hours throughout the entire game.

SAILING\BOATING

• Out on the open water with no shade in site, it’s important to reapply sun screen hourly and wear sunglasses and hats at all times.

FISHING

• Although fishing is the most relaxed sport highlighted in this list, the amount of time spent in the sun is nothing to ignore. During lunch breaks try resting in the shade and be sure to wear the right eye protection and sun shielding clothing.

TENNIS

• Depending upon the surface you are playing on the sun can be more intense: grass courts being the least reflective and hard courts being the most reflective.
• No matter what surface however, players should wear a hat or visor and reapply sun screen between games when switching court sides.

SWIMMING

• While the water might cool you off on a summer’s day, it is highly UV ray reflective and therefore a large amount of sunburns happen while people are swimming.
• Apply your waterproof sun screen a half hour before you plan on swimming and be sure to take breaks on land to reapply especially on your face and shoulders.

BEACH VOLLEY BALL

• The short length of time playing volley ball is countered by the sandy surface, which reflects the suns UV rays at greater intensity.
• The great range of motion needed to play this sport means players usually don’t like to wear clothing that might restrict them. Still, wearing a loose fitting shirt and shorts instead of your bathing suit, as well as regualar application of sunscreen and keeping your sunglasses on will be best for your skin.

Again, I encourage everyone to keep their skin well protected whether they are spectators or players this season and to have any skin damage or changing moles examined as well.

Part of my blog will be sharing recent updates on melanoma with you.   I hope that you will find them interesting.

Dogs being taught to sniff out melanoma

Researchers at the University of Florida, working in collaboration with J&K Canine Academy, are teaching dogs to sniff out melanoma.  Trainers at J&K, have successfully trained dogs to distinguish between bandages containing cancerous cells and those without.  The researchers hope to test whether the dogs can detect actual melanoma tumors in afflicted patients within six months.                (http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090610/articles/906101013)

An experimental vaccine study has shown recent promise in the treatment of melanoma.

Announced at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting 2009, Orlando, this study combines the vaccine with interleukin-2 (IL-2), the standard in treatment of melanoma.  The idea is to stimulate the immune system to attack cancer cells, much like a typical vaccine would for a common virus.  Of 185 patients, tumors shrank in 22% of patients given the vaccine plus IL-2.  Of those patients given IL-2 alone, tumors shrank in 10% of patients.  The vaccine was also said to delay cancer growth from 1 and ½ months, using just IL-2, to almost 3 months with the vaccine combo.  (http://lewislawfirm.blogspot.com/2009/06/on-horizon-vaccine-for-melanoma.html)

The appearance of auto-antibodies is not strongly associated with improved outcome in melanoma patients treated with interferon, scientists report, contradicting what was previously believed.

When treated as a time-independent variable, appearance of auto-antibodies was associated with improved relapse-free intervals in both trials.  The researchers then corrected for guarantee-time bias, which is the additional time that patients with improved outcomes have to become antibody-positive.  Accounting for this time, the scientists found that the association was weak and not statistically significant.  (http://www.genengnews.com/news/bnitem.aspx?name=56017274)