Two thirds of Australians will get skin cancer before they’re 70. But you can still do your part to prevent it, as Catherine Watson reports.
EVEN now, when Laura Allen knows the truth about solariums, a note of nostalgia creeps into her voice when she talks about them.
For a year, in her early twenties, the Keysborough resident was addicted. If she had a busy day at work, she’d go to the solarium and unwind. A bad day and she’d bliss out under the rays.
‘‘It was so relaxing I’d fall asleep. I would come out looking this beautiful golden colour. I thought I was so hot! You get all the endorphins through the UV light. You’re getting all this vitamin D and you feel fantastic.’’
It was the death from skin cancer of 26-year-old Clare Oliver, a campaigner against solariums and tanning, that made Laura rethink solariums and the whole tanning thing.
Last year, by then in her late 20s, she made a new year’s resolution: she would have regular skin checks.
In April, she asked her GP to remove a prominent mark on her arm but he talked her out of it. ‘‘He said it didn’t meet any of the criteria — it hadn’t changed size or shape — and removing it would leave a scar.’’
She asked him again in October. He agreed, but reluctantly. ‘‘The nurse was preparing me for the procedure and he was still trying to talk me out of it. ‘‘I said, ‘I don’t care. I just want it off.’’’
The following week, the doctor called Laura into the clinic and broke the news: the ‘‘harmless’’ blemish had been a stage 2 melanoma. She sat there stunned and fearful — a plastic surgeon would have to operate to remove the area around the melanoma to ensure it didn’t spread. She had to take time off work and the operation cost her more than $1000.
Laura says she was told the lesion would only have turned cancerous in the previous six months. ‘‘The best thing, if you’re not sure, is to have it taken off.’’
Melanoma is the most common cancer in Australians aged 12-24. 62 per cent of males and 50 per cent of females aged 12-17 perceive their risk of skin cancer as low, but 66 per cent of Australians get it before they are 70, and more than 400 Victorians die from the condition every year.
Cranbourne’s Simone Downing is well acquainted with the perils of sun exposure: her partner Daniel Watts died last September, just a few weeks after being diagnosed with his second episode of melanoma. He was just 27.
Daniel, who worked as a brickie, was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma in 2007 but given the all-clear after treatment. It returned 3½ years later. Simone has since found out there is a very high chance of melanoma returning.
‘‘We were floored when we got the diagnosis — we were so shocked. But it’s probably better than spending 3½ years wondering whether it would come back.’’
She wants to get the message through to people in their own age group that skin cancer can kill, even at a young age. But she also believes Daniel was genetically predisposed to skin cancer — ‘‘he was a strawberry blond, with light hair and freckles, the typical ranga’’.
Older Australians are still paying for years of coconut oil and tinfoil tanning but those under 40 have grown up with the Slip! Slop! Slap! message.
Cancer Council Victoria’s Sue Heward says the SunSmart campaign is estimated to have saved more than 1000 lives since 1988, with melanoma rates now falling in men and women under 40 and the rate of increase slowing in older age groups.
But Australian adolescents still have a much higher incidence of malignant melanoma than their counterparts anywhere in the world. The latest research released by Cancer Council Victoria shows many teens are in denial about their risk of skin cancer.
She says researchers found people put on only a third to a half of the amount of sunscreen they should and often forget to reapply every two hours.
There is the added complication that doctors are reporting a rising incidence of vitamin D deficiency because people are avoiding sun exposure. Vitamin D is made when the skin is exposed to the sun’s UV rays.
Ms Heward says that at this time of year just a few minutes of sun exposure mid-morning or mid-afternoon should produce enough vitamin D for most people. People with naturally dark skin need three to six times this amount.
She says it’s important to see your GP if anything on your skin changes in size, shape or colour.
Laura Allen will need skin checks every six months for the next five years to ensure her melanoma hasn’t returned. She says it’s many years since she went to a solarium and she makes sure she stays out of the sun between 10am and 2pm.
‘‘I’m getting married this year and I want to have a family. It’s not worth risking your life for a sun tan.’’
For more information on UV, skin cancer, vitamin D and sun protection, visit sunsmart.com.au
Don’t forget the dog
When you slap on the sunscreen, don’t forget your four-legged friends.
Dogs and cats with unpigmented skin are particularly vulnerable to developing squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer usually found on the top of the nose or the eyelids.
‘‘I like using fluoro zinc cream on a dog’s nose, but not the eyelids. It protects them and it looks cool,’’ Australian Small Animal Veterinary Association president David Neck says.
He also recommends using children’s sunscreen for animals and a little cap if they will tolerate it. Dr Neck, who had a SCC removed from his own face about four years ago, said prevention was always better than a cure.
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