WASHINGTON – While melanoma survivors appear to be more aware of sun safety than does the general public, more than a quarter do not regularly use sunscreen.
"We know that melanoma is a malignancy prevalent in our population, and we know that for many people with melanoma, sun exposure is a major risk factor for recurrence; and sun protection may reduce their chances of getting melanoma again," Dr. Anees B. Chagpar said at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. "Although we found that melanoma survivors did better than the general public at protecting their skin from the sun, we also found that more than a quarter of melanoma survivors never wear sunscreen. That blew my mind."
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Some melanoma survivors even frequent tanning beds (2%)
A few survivors – about 2% – even frequent tanning salons, said Dr. Chagpar, an associate professor of surgery at Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
Dr. Chagpar and her colleagues based their findings on data extracted from the 2010 National Health Interview Survey. They focused on self-reported history of melanoma, sun protection practices, and indoor tanning.
The 2010 survey included information on 27,120 adults; 171 had a history of melanoma. Of the adults included in the survey, most (55%) were men; 10% were younger than 40 years.
Compared with the general population, melanoma survivors demonstrated an overall increased rate of sun awareness. Significantly more melanoma survivors reported that they always stay in the shade, compared with the general population (16% vs. 10%, respectively). They were significantly more likely to always wear a baseball cap or visor (31% vs. 18%), a wide-brimmed hat (20% vs. 6%), and a long-sleeved shirt (12% vs. 5%) when going outside on a warm, sunny day for more than 1 hour. They were significantly more likely to report always using sunscreen (32% vs. 17%).
Dr. Anees Chagpar
However, Dr. Chagpar said, a good proportion of melanoma survivors are not adequately protecting themselves from sun exposure. About 15% reported rarely or never staying in the shade, and 27% reported never wearing sunscreen.
"The bright spot in this story is that melanoma survivors are more likely to use sunscreen than nonmelanoma survivors," she said in an interview. "But when over a quarter of melanoma survivors admit that they never use sunscreen, we have considerable work to do in educating people about the importance of sun protective behaviors."
And while melanoma survivors overall were significantly less likely to use indoor tanning devices, 2% still reported having done so in the past 12 moths.
"It is distressing to know that melanoma survivors continue to tan," she said. "We have to do a better job in educating our patients about the risks of UV irradiation and the risk of developing melanoma – particularly in those who have survived the disease once already."
Dr. Chagpar had no financial disclosures.