A new study reveals that melanoma survivors should avoid sun exposures as it may lead to the recurrence of the disease.
However, it was found that survivors who should be avoiding sunlight tend to seek suntans and get sunburnt.
It is believed that for most of the melanoma survivors, an early-stage diagnosis is moderately a minor experience. However, the illness is quite serious, as they reportedly have about a nine-fold risk of developing the disease again. This risk can only be reduced by prioritizing sun protection.
Skin Cancer
Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, whose occurence has reportedly risen in the past 30 years. It is now considered as the sixth most common cancer disease in U.S. and around 76,380 cases regarding melanoma alone have been diagnosed in 2016.
The main cause of melanoma is believed to be the ultraviolet radiation coming from the sun.
How Was The Study Conducted?
The study was conducted by Rachel Isaksson Vogel, an assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health at the University of Minnesota along with some of her colleagues.
The research team compared the behavior of two groups of people in regards to sun exposure and protection. One of the groups was composed of long-term melanoma survivors and the other group consisted of people who never suffered from the disease.
In the study, the amount of time both the groups’ participants spent outside in summers was examined. The researchers also took in account various sun protection methods used by the participants. The number of harsh or red sunburns experienced by the participants in the last year was also taken into account.
The trial consisted of 724 melanoma survivors and 660 control group people. The participants were between the ages 25 and 59 years. The melanoma survivors examined in the trail were reportedly diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma between July 2004 and December 2007.
Findings Of The Study
Vogel reportedly compared the optimal sun protection behaviors between the melanoma survivors and the control group.
The study highlighted that around 34.3 percent of melanoma survivors spent time outside for more than an hour on summer weekdays, compared to the 44.4 percent of the control group participants.
Moreover, 36.5 percent of control group people suffered from sunburn in the previous year as compared to 19.5 percent of survivors, for which 1.7 of the latter and 6.8 percent of the former used a tanning bed or booth.
To avoid the sun exposure, around 38.4 percent of control group participants often applied sunscreen, while 61.9 percent of survivors did the same.
According to the study, suboptimal behaviors were observed in melanoma survivors given that the research was expecting optimal behavioural results. About 20 percent of the melanoma survivors got sunburn in 2016.
The study also revealed those on weekends both the groups faced sun exposure equally, counting to 79.7 percent of control group participants and 74.8 percent of survivors.
The findings of the study have been published in the journal of American Association for Cancer Research Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
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