Know how to protect and check yourself for skin cancer

Each year, more new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed than breast, lung, colon and prostate cancers combined, and people are seeing clearly the dangers of tanning and skin cancer. And the statistics are indeed alarming. More than 3.5 million skin cancers are diagnosed in more than 2 million Americans each year, making it the most common type of cancer.

“The vast majority of these skin cancers will be relatively harmless,” says dermatologist Dr. Brian Horvath, of Horvath Dermatology Associates in South Hills, Pa. “However, about 76,000 people are diagnosed with the life-threatening type of skin cancer—melanoma—every year, with about 9,400 people dying of melanoma every year.”

The good news is that if it is detected early, melanoma is very treatable. The bad news is that melanoma becomes much more difficult to treat when it is advanced. One way to keep on top of melanoma is to have a baseline skin examination, then follow up as suggested. “Skin cancers found and treated early are almost always curable,” Horvath says. “Have a doctor do a full-body skin exam first, to ensure that any existing spots are normal. Then the doctor can recommend how often a person should have a body scan.”

Horvath recommends more frequent scans for people who have a weakened immune system, prolonged or frequent exposure to the sun, or a personal or family history of skin cancer. “Someone with no personal or family history of skin cancer and not a great deal of sun exposure may not need regular skin checks,” he says. While there are no official guidelines that identify the best age to begin skin scans, Horvath recommends a baseline skin examination at age 50.

Of course, a leading cause of skin cancer is sun exposure. While sun exposure during winter months isn’t a great concern in Western Pennsylvania, summer months may cause more of a risk. And though we need the vitamin D we get from the sun, Horvath says we get it through food, also. “A great deal of our vitamin D comes from foods supplemented with vitamin D (such as milk and orange juice), some oily fishes (such as salmon), supplement vitamin D vitamin tabs, and a little from sunlight,” Horvath says. Horvath says the recommended daily vitamin D intake is 600 international units per day for people up to age 70, and 800 IU for people ages 70 and older. You can get this by drinking vitamin D-fortified orange juice or milk, eating salmon or other fatty fish, or taking a daily multivitamin containing 600 units of vitamin D. “I also recommend that my patients with a history of skin cancer take supplements of 600 units of vitamin D daily,” he says.

Anyone with concerns about skin scans or vitamin D deficiencies should consult with their physician, Horvath says. “A good resource for patients is the Skin Cancer Foundation website. It is very patient-friendly and full of good, scientifically backed evidence,” he says.