The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended that clinicians counsel fair-skinned young adults, adolescents, children, and parents of young children about minimizing exposure to ultraviolet radiation to reduce their risk of skin cancer, in a draft recommendation statement that is available online.
The grade B recommendation applies to asymptomatic individuals who have fair skin, are aged 6 months to 24 years, and have no history of skin cancer; the recommendation is being issued because members of this population are at increased risk and are the subject of most of the existing research on skin cancer counseling, according to the USPSTF. The task force found a moderate net benefit when clinicians in a primary care setting offered behavioral counseling on skin cancer prevention to members of this population.
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The draft recommendation is open for public comment until 8:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Nov. 6, 2017.
The draft recommendation can be viewed and comments can be submitted online at the USPSTF site.