What is skin cancer?
UV rays from the sun damage the cells in the upper level of your skin. Your skin cells aggregate to protect itself from harmful UV radiation and is often represented in a harmless or benign mole. However, in some cases the skin cells mutate, evolve in an irregular, uncontrollable manner and become malignant or cancerous. These cancerous cells may then spread beyond your skin to other body parts.
Skin cancers are named after the skin cell types that they originate from:
Basal cell carcinoma - The most common and least dangerous skin cancer.
Squamous cell carcinoma - Not as dangerous as melanoma, but can spread to other body parts.
Melanoma - The least common, but the most dangerous form of skin cancer.
What causes skin cancer?
Around 90% of skin cancers are caused by cumulative exposure to sunlight or UV radiation.
How common is skin cancer?
Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the UK, with more than 150,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Approximately 16,700 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed each year. One in 41 UK females and 1 in 35 UK males will be diagnosed with melanoma at some point in their lifetime, according to Cancer Research UK.
Who is at risk of getting skin cancer?
People with type 1 skin are most at risk of getting skin cancer. A person with Type 1 skin is someone who has a pale complexion and always burns if they are exposed to sunlight. A person with type 1 skin will likely include people with blonde or reddish hair and blue or green eyes.
It is important to note that skin cancer is not limited to people with fair skin. Anyone routinely exposed to the sun is particularly at risk of skin cancer.
How do I know if I have skin cancer or not?
It is important to proactively manage your skin health by self-examining your skin from time to time, as early detection of skin cancer materially improves survival rates. Knowing your own skin will allow you to monitor changes over time.
If you have a type 1 skin profile, there is a history of skin cancer in your family, or you have had issues in the past, you should get a skin cancer check every 12-18 months. Anyone else should look to have a routine skin cancer check every 24 months or so.
However, irrespective of your skin type or how regularly you are exposed to the sun if you have a specific concern about your skin you should arrange to see a medical professional as soon as you can.
If your medical professional identifies a potential skin cancer they will discuss the need to remove the lesion for further examination under a microscope. The pathologist will determine whether the skin cancer is benign or malignant and if anything else needs to be done once it is removed.
How is skin cancer treated?
The vast majority of skin cancers are removed with minor surgery under local anaesthetic. Depending on the size of the tumour, the surgery is likely to result in some body scarring or disfigurement. If the skin cancer has spread beyond the upper level of the skin more targeted and ongoing treatments may be required.
What is the survival rate for skin cancer?
The survival rate for non-melanoma skin cancer is very high. The survival rate for melanoma skin cancer is high if detected early. The survival rate for melanoma skin cancer falls significantly if it becomes more advanced.
Research undertaken by the Cancer Research UK indicated that almost 9 in 10 people diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer in England survive their disease for ten years or more.
However, one shouldn’t get complacent because the survival rate is high. There are around 2,300 melanoma skin cancer deaths in the UK every year, that's more than 6 every day.
How can I prevent skin cancer?
Limiting exposure to sunlight is the best way to prevent skin cancer. The best way to do this is to avoid going outside on days when there is a high UV index, particularly between 10am and 4pm. Should you need to go outside, you should wear UPF 50+ sun protective clothing and a broad-brim hat and use a broad spectrum (UVA & UVB) sunscreen with an SPF of 50+.
Sun protective clothing is clothing that uses fabrics which have been tested and rated with a UPF rating. UPF is short for the Ultraviolet Protection Factor, and the rating describes the amount of UV that can penetrate the fabric. A fabric with a UPF of 5 means that 20% of UV can penetrate the fabric, whereas a UPF of 50 means that only 2% of UV can penetrate the fabric. UPF 50+ is the highest rating achievable in Australia, which means that at least 98% of UV is blocked when you have this rating.
Sun protection, UV clothing or UPF clothing as it is often known, is the first line of defence against skin ageing, sunburn and melanoma skin cancer.
Solbari Sun Protection is the leading Australian sun protective clothing brand in Australia with customers in over 160 countries. Solbari offers an award winning range of UPF 50+ sun protective clothing, broad brim sun hats, arm sleeves and umbrellas.
