The results of a national skin cancer analysis published Monday do not come as a surprise to Ashtabula dermatologist Dr. Bruce Guido.
The study, published in the March issue of the Archives of Dermatology, reported a 76.9-percent increase in nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) in the subject population — Medicare patients — from 1996 to 2006.
While Guido does not pay a lot of attention to statistics, the experience in his practice, which is about 50 percent Medicare-age population, lines up with the national study. Guido says he has seen increases in both types of nonmelanoma skin cancers, squamous cell and basal cell, as well as the deadly melanoma. About 50 percent of his practice is related to skin cancers.
“I see them across the board, but it is primarily people of the Medicare age, predominantly age 45 to 50 on up,” Guido says.
He feels the increase is foremost a lifestyle issue.
“Recreational sun exposure, I would say, is the predominant force behind it,” he says.
Genetics also comes into play: A fair-skinned person who spends a lot of time outdoors will be a lot more likely to develop a skin cancer than a dark-skinned individual who rarely ventures outside.
“It’s a combination of genetics and your own environmental factors, such as exposure to sunshine and use of a sun-block product,” he says.
Nonmelanoma skin cancer is the most common malignancy in the U.S. It rarely spreads but is locally destructive where it grows. Guido has seen the basal-cell variety cancer in teenage patients.
Squamous cell, also locally destructive, usually appears at middle age and older.
Based on 2006 data, the study estimates the total number of nonmelanoma skin cancers at 3.5 million and the number of persons treated for it in the U.S. at 2.15 million that year (all age groups).
While not possessing melanoma’s deadly habit of metastasizing, the large number of NMSC cases places a significant financial burden on the Medicare system. According to the study, it ranked in 1992 as the fifth most-costly cancer to treat in the Medicare population and accounted for more than 4.5 percent of all Medicare cancer costs. The costs increased 41 percent from 1992 to 1995.
The study concluded that “there is an epidemic of NMSC in the United States,” and states “To date, educational programs emphasizing sun protection have mainly been disappointing in slowing skin cancer rates.”
Guido says bringing the trend down will take 30 to 40 years because skin cancer typically takes decades to develop.
“The most important thing is to protect your children,” he says.
Key precautions are to avoid exposure to the sun from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and, when venturing outside, wearing a wide-brimmed hat (not a ball cap) and protective clothing. Guido says that if you can see the sun through your top when you hold it to the light, it’s not protecting your skin from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.
He recommends wearing sun-block products when outdoors and don’t let northeast Ohio’s gloomy skies lull you into thinking harmful rays aren’t penetrating the cloud deck.
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