Melanoma Rates Jumping For Young Women

CBS News Anchor Katie Couric Speaks With Dr. Jeanine Downie About The Disturbing Trend

(CBS)  New research shows there's been a disturbing increase in melanoma among young women. In 1973, there were five-and-a-half cases per 100,000 women, ages 15-39. But by 1980, the rate had nearly doubled. And it went up another 50 percent by 2004. During that same time, the melanoma rate for young men leveled off. Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer. Sixty-two thousand new cases are reported each year in this country and more than 8,000 Americans die from it. CBS News anchor Katie Couric spoke with Dr. Jeanine Downie, a board-certified dermatologist, about the recent developments.

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Couric: Dr. Downie, when I heard these numbers I thought "Has the sun gotten stronger? Are young women spending more time outdoors?" What's behind this disturbing trend?

Downie: It's really worrisome. The ozone level is thinning so because of that, the greenhouse gas emission, the sun is stronger. This is not our grandmother's sun. That's the first thing I want to stress. Young women have increased leisure time so a lot of people are spending a lot of time outdoors.

Couric: What about tanning salons? Are they behind this at all?

Downie: Tanning salons are huge. Let's say an average of one million people tan per day. And of that, 71 percent of tanning salon patrons are young women age 16 to 29. So there's the answer to your question because these new tanning booths, the ones with the high pressure tanning bulbs, they're 12 to 15 times the strength of the sun. So it's unbelievable the harm and the damage they can do. And if you expose yourself to tanning salons before the age of 39, you'll increase your risk of getting melanoma by I think it's 75 percent.

Couric: Well, we asked the Indoor Tanning Association for a statement or a reaction to this study and they said: "…[the] likely reason behind the rising melanoma rates is that more people are getting screened for the disease and that our ability to detect the cancer earlier and more often has improved."

What do you think of that explanation?

Downie: I completely disagree. Increased screening is leading to us catching melanomas earlier so people aren't dying as frequently from melanomas as they used to. That's what increased screening is doing. Increased screening is not bumping up the rates. I totally disagree with that.

Couric: We also hear lately the importance of getting vitamin D from the sun. So we're getting a lot of mixed messages in terms of sun exposure. What would you advise people to do?

Downie: America is not a nutritionally depleted country. If anything, Americans tend to be heavy. So we can get vitamin D from our diet and if not we can get it from nutritional supplements, i.e. vitamins, and that would be fine. That's what I recommend.

Couric: What should people look for in terms of the early signs of melanoma?

Downie: So you want to look for a darkly pigmented mole on your body. So just a regular mole and then you say, "Hmm, that doesn't fold back on itself; I can no longer put a line through it." That means it's asymmetrical. There are many moles where the borders are irregular. If they look scalloped, that's a problem.

Couric: You should get your skin checked once a year at least, correct?

Downie: And if you have a history of melanoma, it should be two or three times a year.

[keithle1]

Stay out of the tanning salons. Don''t lie in the sun for hours. It''s not worth it. You want to look like an alligator handbag when you''re 50?

The sun is not your friend. You get enough exposure just walking to your office, going out to lunch, shopping, jogging, etc.

[calliffy2]

Having experienced two skin cancers on my face within 2 years, I would recommend using moderation and common sense at all times. I happen to be extremely fair skinned, making me and others of the fair-skinned persuasion, very vulnerable. Whether Mediterranian, Middle Eastern, Asian, or whatever your ethic background, over-exposure will do its damage . . . be careful.

calliffy2

[jaimesmom2]

You can tear apart the report all you want but the fact still remains that melanoma is killing our young men and women at increasing and alarming rates. My 29-year-old daughter Jaime lost her life to melanoma last year after a courageous 9-year battle. It was not the life a young woman dreams about but instead lots of surgeries, chemo, immunotherapies, radiation, vomiting, fatigue, and baldness. She had been a "frequent fryer" in the tanning salons in high school, and she knew that that behavior in search of a killer tan had indeed cost her her life. She would want to tell any young person to stay away from the tanning beds and be cautious in the sun. It just isn''t worth it.

[jaimesmom2]

You can tear apart the report all you want but the fact still remains that melanoma is killing our young men and women at increasing and alarming rates. My 29-year-old daughter Jaime lost her life to melanoma last year after a courageous 9-year battle. It was not the life a young woman dreams about but instead lots of surgeries, chemo, immunotherapies, radiation, vomiting, fatigue, and baldness. She had been a "frequent fryer" in the tanning salons in high school, and she knew that that behavior in search of a killer tan had indeed cost her her life. She would want to tell any young person to stay away from the tanning beds and be cautious in the sun. It just isn''t worth it.

[jimfinster]

ItMayBe2Late

You are incredibly obnoxious.

[beehive21-2009]

Tanning,smoking,drugs,over eating and drinking all bad for your health.

[Hiness58]

Referring to what dr9111 and ssm9451 are saying. Please watch ANYTHING on your skin that is unusual. My melanoma showed up on my heel at the back right where you might get a blister. It appeared as a raised pink bump just like a blister and about the size of a blister. Not black, not brown and surely not mole like. It took me a year to go to the dermatogist where a PA said it was nothing and another year to see the REAL doc who biopsied it and said it was Melanoma. The removed the back of my heel down to the Achilles tendon. I was SO lucky. My scars are healing thanks to the wound vac. But like ssm9451''s daughter, if it had been any worse I wouldn''t be here. ssm9451 I''m so sorry that you lost her. There are so many people who just don''t realize the danger and maybe some of us can make a difference.

[ringading3]

Who would have thought burning one''s skin with tanning or long exposure to the son would be bad? Duh...

[bluestardad]

MEDICAL PROFESSION

CURE SOMETHING

ANYTHING

QUIT MAKING MONEY OFF TREATING ILLNESS AND CURE IT!

PROVE YOU ARE WORTH THE BILLIONS SPENT ON YOU EACH YEAR!

[blackyowe]

You won''t find me out in the sun or in a cancer bed. Tanning beds are death beds! I wear a hat and take the shade with great pleasure. Why people like baking themselves is quite beyond me. "Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun!"

[gr8rg8rwins]

And I have to add - when did 39 year olds began to be included in the younger women category? And if the what the "Dr." THINKS is right, women who expose themselves (does she mean use? does she mean use frequently - define frequently, does she mean for long periods of time? how long?) to tanning salons before the age of 39 increase their risk of getting melanoma by 75 percent. What about women who expose themselves at age 39 or later? Are they OK to start exposing themselves to tanning salons? I realize this story focused on "young women," so I guess they''ll keep older women in suspense for their segment about a higher percentage of older women are getting melanoma now, but the Dr. will tell us that the she completely disagrees with the possibility that the increase may be attributable to more women being screened. And Couric will put on and remove her glasses in a very pensive manner while wishing that she could have gotten the football season wiener wars street demo - yes, the industry''s top dogs have changed their recipes again. She can almost taste that frank now. Oh, sorry Doc, was I drooling? You were saying that women 39 and older who expose themselves in a tanning salon could experience a tan that is 15 times what they would get if they were on the surface of the sun. (btw me now, not Couric - I don''t believe the sun has a surface - and now back to Couric). Fascinating, Dr. Thank you so much. Now, let''s talk wieners.

[gr8rg8rwins]

And another beauty from the doctor: "And if you expose yourself to tanning salons before the age of 39, you''ll increase your risk of getting melanoma by I think it''s 75 percent." She THINKS it''s 75 percent. I''m convinced. Again, not prepared and no attribution for the statistic. Nice. BTW - I am not condoning tanning salons. Never been to one, never will go to one. Just pointing out an example of how lazy media can be and why they''re able to get away with it - lazy, non-thinking consumers who swallow stories like this hook, line and sinker. But they don''t even know they''ve done it. They just take what the media tells them and hope to be the first one to pass it on to the gals in the office or the boys around the water cooler. Think about what you''re being told by media and others. If you don''t, well ...

[gr8rg8rwins]

Great example of how few people listen to news reports. The Indoor Tanning Association provided a statement read by Couric that suggests increased numbers of diagnosed melanoma cases are due to earlier and more frequent screening for it. Couric asks the "Dr." if she agrees. Dr. says she completely disagrees. Says increased screenings are not responsible for the bump in melanoma cases. Let me get this straight. More people are screened for melanoma now than before and they are screened more often, but that doesn''t result in increased diagnoses of the disease? If that were true, then reducing the number of people screened and the frequency at which they are screened would not result in a reduction of diagnosed cases. Come on - how stupid is that? Was Couric thinking about her next interview? Or is she not really the tough investigative reporter some believe her to be. Or does she just take it easy on the network''s subject matter "experts." By the way, it''s not tough to ask tough questions when you''re prepared and you call the shots. In this case, tough questions weren''t needed, just a prepared expert who has the ability to think logically.

[estabwary]

I''''ve heard that you only need 15 minutes of sun to get what you need for the day.

Posted by erasmus81 at 01:02 PM : Jul 12, 2008

If you can actually get 15 minutes EVERY single day.

Get 25 on the days that you can; makes up for rainy
days and days you just don''t get out enough.

[ssm9451]

Melanoma is a serious form for skin cancer that can KILL. Lost a 31 year old daughter from this. She never laid out in the sun and never used tanning beds. She was fair hair and blue eyes. It was on the back of her neck. Endured surgeries to remove muscle and lymph nodes. Then it spread to her upper spine & brain. She died less than a year after the first surgery. Please check all moles and other unusual looking spots you may find.

[dr9111]

No matter what steps are taken to reduce sun or tanning exposure it is still important to carefully examine your skin for suspicious moles that could portend a deadly melanoma. The traditional ABCD criteria can help guide risk assessment.

More recently physicians have recognized the importance of moles that are new or getting larger in predicting high risk lesions. They have now added E for enlargement to the criteria and many recommend following the ABCDE%u2019s.

Although dermatologists almost always ask if you have any new or changing moles most people cannot accurately answer that question (particularly those with numerous moles and the greatest risk). One way to approach this problem for people at high risk is to use Total Body Photography to document the moles on your body. However, this is an expensive procedure (often costing $600).

There is now an inexpensive software program that allows people to use their own digital cameras at home to take their own body images at different time intervals (maximizing privacy). The images can be scaled and aligned and compared using a personal computer to allow for the efficient recognition of new or growing moles. This software was developed from funding provided by the National Cancer Institute and can be obtained by going to the website http://www.dermalert.com

[dr9111]

No matter what steps are taken to reduce sun or tanning exposure it is still important to carefully examine your skin for suspicious moles that could portend a deadly melanoma. The traditional ABCD criteria can help guide risk assessment.

More recently physicians have recognized the importance of moles that are new or getting larger in predicting high risk lesions. They have now added E for enlargement to the criteria and many recommend following the ABCDE%u2019s.

Although dermatologists almost always ask if you have any new or changing moles most people cannot accurately answer that question (particularly those with numerous moles and the greatest risk). One way to approach this problem for people at high risk is to use Total Body Photography to document the moles on your body. However, this is an expensive procedure (often costing $600).

There is now an inexpensive software program that allows people to use their own digital cameras at home to take their own body images at different time intervals (maximizing privacy). The images can be scaled and aligned and compared using a personal computer to allow for the efficient recognition of new or growing moles. This software was developed from funding provided by the National Cancer Institute and can be obtained by going to the website http://www.dermalert.com

[husein_pasha]

AA, I have heard for skin cancer, but I read only the title, not the whole article. There is not a big benefit of reading.

[erasmus81]

"What is this melamona?" Posted by Husein_Pasha at 01:39 PM : Jul 12, 2008

"Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer."

From the sun. Anybody that I have ever known that has gotten it, has died. When you see on the skin is nothing to what is under it. I think it spreads really fast.

[husein_pasha]

What is this melamona?