Q&A: Sun Safety

Every Sunday, Cancer Services publishes a Cancer Q&A in the Health Section of The Baton Rouge Advocate.

Q:  I love being out in the sun but am afraid of getting skin cancer.  What are some things I can do that will still allow me to enjoy the summer months?

A:  Sun safety is important year around, especially in the southern United States.  To safeguard your skin properly you should take proper precautions daily, regardless of whether or not you plan on being outside.   You are exposed to dangerous UV rays even when you are driving a car.

 According to the National Cancer Institute, non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common type of cancer.  Basal and squamous cell carcinomas are two of the many non-melanoma skin cancers.  Regardless of age, skin type, sex, or race, anyone can get skin cancer; however, some people have an increased risk of developing skin cancer.  The American Cancer Society has projected more than one million new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer for 2007 in the United States, which is approximately half of all diagnosed cancers combined in the U.S.

The National Cancer Institute suggests the following sun safety tips:

• It is best to avoid the midday sun (from mid-morning to late afternoon) whenever possible. You also should protect yourself from UV radiation reflected by sand, water, snow, and ice. UV radiation can penetrate light clothing, windshields, and windows.
• Wear protective clothing.
• Use sunscreen. Sunscreen may help prevent skin cancer, especially sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15.   However, sunscreens cannot provide the same protection as avoiding the sun and wearing clothing to protect the skin.
• Stay away from sunlamps and tanning beds.

There are other ways to protect yourself from acquiring one of the most common cancers.

• Women can wear tinted moisturizers with a minimum SPF of 15.  FDA regulations require SPF measures in moisturizer to be the same as the measures found in sunscreen.
• Do NOT sunbathe or use tanning beds; instead, if you feel it’s absolutely necessary, use a sunless tanning product that has DHA, dihydroxyacetone, or other color additives for the skin that have been tested by the industry and approved by the FDA.  Also make sure to read about these products.  For example, DHA is intended to be used in the self-application of creams and lotions.  It is only approved for the application to external body parts and is not to be used on the eyes, lips, and any body surface covered with a mucus membrane.  Sunless tanning does not necessarily provide SPF protection; if your label does not include SPF then make sure to apply sunscreen or lotion with a minimum of SPF 15 when you are exposed to the sun’s UV rays.
• Make sure your sunglasses block both UVB and UVA rays.
• Use aftershave with a minimum SPF 15.
• Wear a hat with a brim that covers more than your face but neck and ears as well.
• Use lip balm with a minimum SPF 15.
• Have moles checked out by your doctors.

Visit these websites for further information on sun safety tips:

• Skin Cancer Foundation 
• National Cancer Institute
• American Cancer Society
• U.S. Food & Drug Administration

For additional information contact Courtney, the librarian at Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge at (225) 927-2273, cbritton@cancerservices.org , or visit the Resource Center at 550 Lobdell Avenue.

Q&A: Skin Cancer Awareness Month

Q: May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. What should I know about decreasing my risk for skin cancer?

A: Regardless of age, skin type, sex, or race, anyone can get skin cancer; however, some people have an increased risk of developing skin cancer.

According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the following are risk factors for skin cancer:

• exposure to UV radiation (sun, sunlamps, tanning beds, tanning booths)
• skin scars and burns
• certain infections like HPV
• exposure to arsenic
• chronic skin inflammations or skin ulcers
• certain diseases that make the skin sensitive to the sun (i.e. albinism)
• radiation therapy
• a suppressed immune system (caused by medications or medical conditions)
• family history of skin cancer
• actinic keratosis
• Bowen’s disease

Protecting yourself from the sun’s UV rays is important year around, especially in the southern United States. To safeguard your skin, you should take proper precautions daily, regardless of whether or not you plan on being outside. You can be exposed to dangerous UV rays even when doing something as simple as driving a car.

The National Cancer Institute suggests the following sun protection tips:

• It is best to avoid the midday sun (from mid-morning to late afternoon) whenever possible.
• You also should protect yourself from UV radiation reflected by sand, water, snow, and ice.
• UV radiation can penetrate light clothing, windshields, and windows. Wear protective clothing.
• Use sunscreen. Sunscreen may help prevent skin cancer, especially sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15. However, sunscreens cannot provide the same protection as avoiding the sun and wearing clothing to protect the skin.
• Stay away from sunlamps and tanning beds.

For more sun safety tips visit the websites below or contact Courtney Britton, librarian at Cancer Services of Greater Baton Rouge at (225) 927-2273, cbritton@cancerservices.org , or visit the Resource Center at 550 Lobdell Avenue.

Cancer News


From the American Cancer Society:

Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Cancer Prevention: Summary
"This document is a condensed version of the article describing the American Cancer Society (ACS) Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines, which are updated every 5 years. The guidelines were developed by the American Cancer Society 2006 Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee and approved by the American Cancer Society National Board of Directors on May 19, 2006. The full article, written for heath care professionals, is published in the September/October 2006 issue of CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, and is available for free online at: http://caonline.amcancersoc.org/content/vol56/issue5/ "

Symptom Screening Advances Early Ovarian Cancer Detection
"Physicians generally consider ovarian cancer to be a “silent killer"...There is no effective screening test to detect early stage disease in the general population or even high-risk groups.
Recent evidence suggests that early-stage symptoms may be recognizable and could be used to develop a symptom index for early disease."


From MD Anderson:

Decline in Breast Cancer Cases Likely Linked to Reduced Use of Hormone Replacement
"But the researchers stress that because the analysis is based solely on population statistics, they cannot know for certain the reasons why incidence declined. "We have to sound a cautionary note because epidemiology can never prove causation," he says. They considered whether other effects may be involved (such as decreased use of screening mammography and changes in the use of anti-inflammatory agents, SERMs or statins) but only the potential impact of HRT was strong enough to explain the effect."

Allergy Drug Slows Pancreatic Tumor Growth in Preclinical Studies
"An anti-allergy drug in use for more than 40 years significantly reduced tumor growth in animal models of human pancreatic cancer and also increased the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
In the Dec. 20 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the investigators report that combining the drug, cromolyn, with chemotherapy was nearly three times better at retarding growth of pancreatic tumors in mice compared to the chemotherapy agent gemcitabine alone.
The finding may lead to a treatment advance for patients with pancreatic cancer, believed to be the most lethal of all cancers. More than 95% of patients diagnosed with the disease die from it, and half of those deaths occur in the first six months after diagnosis."

Study Finds Lapatinib Shows Promise as Therapy for Inflammatory Breast Cancer: First multi-center clinical trial conducted for women with this rare disease
"In the first multi-center and international clinical trial conducted to better understand the complexities of a rare, aggressive and often lethal form of breast cancer, researchers have discovered that the experimental biological agent, lapatinib, successfully and specifically treats inflammatory breast cancer (IBC)."


From MacMillan Cancer Support:

Thousands of cancer patients lose their homes
Even though this survey was done in the UK, I think it's an important issue.
"New research out today shows one in seventeen (6%) people lose their home after being diagnosed with cancer and one in six (18%) have difficulties in keeping up with their mortgage or rental payments, according to Macmillan Cancer Support."


From UNC Chapel Hill Medical School:

Drug combination slows progression of treatment-resistant bone marrow cancer
"Combining a newly formulated drug with one that is already a standard treatment slows the progression of multiple myeloma, an advanced cancer of the bone marrow cells, according to a clinical trial led by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine researcher. "


From Google:

Cancer was the #3 Top Search of 2006 in Google News, right under Paris Hilton and Orlando Bloom.


Cancer-related Websites:

I'm Too Young for This
Website for cancer survivors.