Skin cancer: The dark side of sunlight

CEBU, Philippines - Everyone likes to get a little beam of sunshine. Among yogis and in many other cultures since ancient time, sunlight therapy is believed to bring about radiant health and heal illnesses. Receiving a right balance of sunlight has been observed to have mood lifting benefits and even cures depression. A recent study has found that sunlight deprivation causes a person to undergo seasonal affective disorder.

But the sunlit benefits can come at a price, especially in this age of climate change. According to the World Health Organization, prolonged human exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation of the sun may result in acute and adverse health effects, particularly on the skin. Sunburn is the most known and visible acute effect of excessive UV radiation exposure. The cells, fibrous tissue and blood vessels in the exposed skin deteriorate over time, leading to premature skin aging, leathering, sagging, wrinkles, and discoloration. In the most serious cases, skin cancer develops.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the world, says the website www.webmd.com. It accounts for 75 percent of all cancer diagnoses. By far, over 5.4 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancer are treated in more than 3.3 million people in the U.S. every year, says The Skin Cancer Foundation in its website - www.skincancer.org, adding that there are more cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon each year. Moreover, for the past three decades, more people have had skin cancer than all other kinds of cancers combined, the website says.

In the Philippines, skin diseases are among the top 35 causes of mortality, accounting for .53 percent of deaths per year, says the website www.worldlifeexpectancy.com. The website also discloses that skin cancer is the top 17 leading cause of cancer deaths among Filipinos.

The Skin Cancer Foundation defines skin cancer as "the uncontrolled growth of abnormal skin cells." It occurs when "unrepaired DNA damage to skin cells (most often caused by ultraviolet radiation from sunshine or tanning beds) triggers mutations, or genetic defects, that [cause] the skin cells to multiply rapidly and form malignant tumors." In other words, skin cancers involve abnormal cell changes in the outer layer of the skin.

Data appearing in webmd.com cite that the incidence of skin cancer is about three times more common in men than in women. As the risk increases with age, it is said that most people diagnosed with skin cancer are those between ages 45 and 54, although all forms of the disease are appearing more often in younger people as well.

The risk factors for skin cancer, according to www.cancer.org, include too much exposure to UV radiation (from sunlight or tanning beds and lamps), having pale skin, exposure to large amounts of coal tar, paraffin, arsenic compounds, or certain types of oil, genetic makeup, multiple or unusual moles, past incidence of severe sunburns, weakened immune system, and old age (although, as mentioned, melanomas also occur in people of younger age).

Though the incidence of skin cancer is alarmingly rising, it is said to be the easiest to cure among other cancer diseases because it could be prevented by limiting exposure to UV radiation, and if diagnosed and treated early. Skin cancers found and removed early are almost always curable. But when allowed to progress, however, skin cancer can result in disfigurement and even death.

The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends that everyone should practice head-to-toe self examination of  their skin monthly and note down any new or changing lesions that one may find growing or appearing on the skin. Its website shares how this is done:

• In a full-length mirror, inspect the skin. Start with the head and face, using a blow dryer to check the scalp.

• Check hands, including nails. Examine elbows, arms, underarms, torso and trunk.

• With one's back to the mirror, use a hand mirror to check one's back, the back of the neck, and other hard-to-see places.

• Sitting down, check legs and feet, including soles, heels, toes, and nails. Use the hand mirror to examine genitals.

The Skin Cancer Foundation also advises learning about the warnings signs of skin cancer and what to look for during a self examination. Skin cancer is the only type of cancer that is almost always detectable in its early, curable stages as every malignant tumor makes visible appearance on the skin's surface in time, webmd.com says.

For its part, skincancer.org points out that skin cancer warning signs include a spot or sore that continues to itch, hurt, crust, scab, erode or bleed. Another sign is an open sore that does not heal within two weeks; a skin growth, mole, beauty mark or brown spot that changes color or appears pearly, translucent, tan, brown, black or multicolored; changes in texture; increases in size or thickness; is asymmetrical; irregular in outline or border; bigger than six millimeters - the size of a pencil eraser, and appears after age 21.