NEW YORK, NY, June 21, 2002 - Sunburns occurring at any age may be as dangerous as sunburns during youth, reports the latest issue of Sun & Skin News, a publication of The Skin Cancer Foundation. New research contests the long-held belief that sunburns during childhood and teen years are more likely to lead to melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, than sunburns in adulthood.
Scientists at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, found that having several sunburns over a lifetime can double or triple melanoma risk, no matter when the sunburns occur. Some 600 individuals with melanoma and 600 who were melanoma-free recorded their history of sunburns, dividing them into two periods -- before and after age 15. Age proved irrelevant, says lead researcher Annette Pfahlberg, PhD; patients' risk of developing melanoma increased as their frequency of sunburns increased, regardless of when the sunburns occurred. More than five lifetime sunburns translated to twice the risk.
Other recent research, however, shows that women aged 45 to 60 may have some protection. Analyzing records from more than 100,000 melanoma cases nationwide, scientists at the University of California Irvine College of Medicine surmised that hormonal changes due to menopause may reduce a woman's melanoma risk during these years.
"This doesn't mean that sun damage occurring during this age period necessarily has less of a long-range impact on women," notes study leader Frederick Beddingfield, MD, now clinical instructor in the Division of Dermatology at UCLA. "It just means that women's risk of developing the disease may be lower during their menopausal years."
Up until age 40, women are diagnosed with melanoma at a slightly higher rate than men. After 40, the rate increases dramatically for men but levels off for women.
Nonetheless, sunburns occurring during menopause still increase a woman's odds of developing melanoma after age 60, if not before. So sunburn remains a concern for both males and females at all ages. "Since sunburns throughout life apparently contribute to melanoma, programs to educate the public should be aimed not only at younger age groups, but at the entire population," says Dr. Pfahlberg.
The Skin Cancer Foundation, the only national and international organization concerned solely with cancers of the skin, conducts public and medical education programs and provides support for research and professional training to reduce the incidence, morbidity, and mortality of skin cancers. Sun & Skin News, a quarterly publication of the Foundation, provides information on a broad range of topics related to skin health, including prevention and treatment of skin cancers, the effectiveness of new sunscreen formulas and sunglasses, prevention and treatment of photoaging, and the danger of tanning parlors.