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Skin cancer rates: Fears for young in UK

2011-04-06 10:14:15

By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News

sunbed Sunbed use increases the risk of melanoma

More than two people under 35 in Britain are diagnosed each day with malignant

melanoma - the deadliest form of skin cancer - new figures reveal.

Cancer Research UK says there has been a tripling in melanoma rates among 15-

and 34-year-olds since the late 1970s and the rise is continuing.

The charity says sunbeds are partly to blame for the increase.

Using a sunbed before the age of 35 can increase your risk of melanoma by 75%,

it warns.

Young women in particular need to take care - they are more than twice as

likely to be diagnosed as young men.

The rate of young women aged between 15 and 34 in Britain being diagnosed with

malignant melanoma now is eight per 100,000. This compared to about four men

per 100,000 for the same age group.

Malignant melanoma

a mole

common on the trunk

Over a quarter of the cases - 256 out of 913 - diagnosed in young adults

between 2006 and 2008 were women between the ages of 30 and 34.

Lindsey Coane, 27, an architectural assistant from Preston, was diagnosed with

malignant melanoma on her leg at aged 21 while she was studying at university

in Liverpool.

She was a regular sunbed user.

"I used sunbeds for six to nine minutes at a time every week for nearly two

years while at university. I was really keen to have a tan and used to get

sunburnt while on holiday with my friends.

"I'm convinced that both these things caused my malignant melanoma.

"I'm very lucky that the cancer was caught when it was. But a lot of skin and

tissue still needed to be taken out of my leg, cutting through some of my

nerves which left my leg partially numb."

Sara Hiom, director of health information at Cancer Research UK, said: "The

explosion in melanoma rates we are seeing now reflects people's tanning

behaviour in the past and the desire to sport a suntan - a trend which began in

the seventies with the dawn of cheap package holidays.

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Lindsey Coane was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma on her leg when she was

21

"Our message is clear - enjoy the sun safely and protect yourself from

sunburn."

Melanoma is largely preventable by avoiding getting burnt.

Under-18s are already banned from using sunbeds in Scotland, and in April 2011

the law will change in England and Wales to make it illegal.

Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, said improved early

diagnosis might partly explain the increasing rates seen.