by KIM HILSENBECK
When Heather Anderson, a science teacher at Hays High School, gave a lesson on getting checked for skin cancer, many students may not have heeded her advice. One student did, however, and his family is very glad.
Rebekah Cantu said her son, Seth SantaCruz, a fair-skinned sophomore at Hays High, talked with her about getting checked for skin cancer after his teacher discussed the importance of getting screened for melanoma, the most common and deadliest of skin cancers.
“Seth had raised moles on his back and shoulder,” said Cantu, “and he wanted one of them removed. We didn’t pay much attention because he had a mole check last summer for his Boy Scouts physical.”
Cantu said the doctor told her if it was just a cosmetic procedure, insurance wouldn’t pay for it.
Flash forward to later that fall when Anderson talked to her students about skin cancer.
“Seth came home one day and he was very serious,” Cantu recalled. “He said, ‘Mom, my teacher said if a mole is bigger than a pencil eraser, it’s most likely cancer.”
She made an appointment with her family doctor who cut out the mole and sent it for testing.
“When it came back, she told us it tested positive for melanoma,” Cantu said.
She said she took the news hard and spent a few weeks blaming herself. With some time to think back on everything, Cantu said she is ok with it.
“I’m proud of Seth for coming to me and insisting we get him tested,” she said. “And we caught it early so it had not spread.”
Cantu said she made sure Seth thanked Anderson for the science lesson about skin cancer.
Dr. Adam Mamelak at Sanova Dermatology in Austin said he is seeing more and more cases of skin cancer among young adults, and even teenagers, than ever before.
According to the National Cancer Institute, the number of new cases of melanoma in the United States in 2012 was estimated at 76,250. The number of deaths for the same year was estimated to be more than 9,100.
“The skin cancer rates we’re seeing are going through the roof,” Mamelak said. “It used to mostly affect grandfathers or middle aged people. But we’re seeing 20-year-olds and even teens. It’s unbelievable.”
And, he added, it is almost entirely preventable.
“So much of what we see is behavior related,” Mamelak said.
Research shows that 90 percent of cases of melanoma are attributed to ultraviolet (UV) rays and sun exposure.
Mamelak said protecting your skin from UV rays is important in reducing the chance of developing melanoma.
“Wear sun screen every day, even in winter, if skiing, on a boat - every time you go outside,” he said.
Of course, as with anything, Mamelak said certain risk factors make some people more susceptible to melanoma, such as having fair skin, excessive sun exposure, numerous moles (more than 50), a history of sunburns, personal or family history of skin cancer and living in sunny or high-altitude climates.
Mamelak said everyone can implement their own skin cancer prevention behaviors. In addition to a yearly visit to the dermatologist, he suggested using a mnumonic device to help remember what to look for on your skin, such as ABCD. Those letters should help people remember some key factors in early skin cancer detection:
Asymmetry; Border irregularity (does a mole have a jagged border?), Color; multi-colored could mean a problem, and Diameter; a mole larger than six millimeters is a warning sign.
“A new mole isn’t a bad thing,” Mamelak said, “but if it’s growing, changing, or odd, it should be looked at by a dermatologist.”
Mamelak also advised not to wait to get checked.
“If you catch melanoma early, it’s very treatable,” he said. “If it gets into other areas of body, it’s hard to treat.”
According to Mamelak, “Once it spreads to the brain, liver and lungs, research shows we have not made a huge dent in increasing melanoma survival rates.”
Research also indicates a connection between melanoma and tanning bed use. Tanning beds radiate UV rays, which have been shown to be dangerous.
Mamelak said he hopes to get the message out to young adults, especially women, that routine tanning is potentially more hazardous than laying in the sun.
“They sometimes tan three to five times a week for years,” he said. “By the time they see me, their skin is leathery.”
For women under 30, Mamelak said he has seen research that shows people under age 30 who regularly use tanning beds increase their risk of developing melanoma by 75 percent.
“Being tan used to be associated with the working class – they were out in the sun doing hard labor,” Mamelak said. “Now it’s a leisure activity.”
He also believes that television, fashion magazines and popular culture have influenced a generation or more of young people into thinking being tan is good.
“They think being bronze looks healthy,” he said.
The issue has become so ubiquitous that the government has stepped in to regulate tanning.
In July 2009, the World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group raised the classification of the use of UV-emitting tanning devices to Group 1 – meaning, carcinogenic to humans.
This classification puts tanning beds alongside tobacco smoke, asbestos, and uranium as known cancer-causing agents.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently considered imposing tougher warning requirements for tanning beds. The U.S. Congress introduced a bill in 2010 called the Tanning Bed Cancer Control Act that proposes to limit the amount of UV rays emitted from tanning beds and the length of time tanners can spend in the machines. Even President Obama’s 2010 Health Care Reform Act, known to many as Obamacare, includes a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services.
Mamelak urges parents to keep their children out of tanning beds.
“We really need to change attitudes about this issue,” he said.
As an alternative, if someone wants to look tan, Mamelak suggested trying spray tans.
“Spray tans are completely healthy, they don’t cause cancer,” he said. “And the products have improved so no one looks like an Oompa Loompa anymore.”
Sanova Dermatology even offers free skin cancer screenings because Mamelak believes it is critical to get checked regularly to catch it early.
