Skin Cancer Rates Appear to Be Waning, Study Finds

After decades of soaring rates of skin cancer--largely because of suntanning --Americans finally may be wising up to the dangers of the bronzed look, a medical researcher says.

Rates of malignant melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, appeared to start leveling off in 1988, after 27 years of steep rises, said Dr. Andrew Glass of Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore.

“It’s going to take some more time to follow that along,” Glass said in a recent interview. But early figures from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., appear to indicate a similar leveling off, he said.

Glass’ remarks came after he reported on long-term tracking of 300,000 members of the Kaiser Permanente prepaid health plan in the Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, Wash., areas.

Researchers found that from 1960 to 1987, annual cases of a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma increased 2.6 times in men and 3.1 times in women.

Squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most common skin cancers, occurring in thousands of people each year. Usually starting as a scaly patch on the lip, ear or hand, it grows, spreads and even causes death if untreated.

“Squamous cell skin cancer clearly seems to be related to skin exposure--it is more common among fair-skinned individuals, especially those with frequent or long-term exposure to sunlight,” said a report by Glass and Dr. Robert N. Hoover of the National Cancer Institute.

Their findings represent the first systematic report over time of squamous cell skin cancer, they said.

The researchers also looked at melanoma and found its incidence rose 3.5-fold and 4.6-fold among men and women, respectively, during the same 27-year period.

Greater exposure to sunlight is only one of many factors believed to have contributed to the increased rates of melanoma, the researchers said in their report in the Journal of the American Medical Assn.

But the occurrence of melanomas on the body’s trunk rose much faster than cancers involving the head and neck or the extremities, the researchers said.

“These observations are consistent with the impression that the rising incidence of both malignancies may be attributable to increased voluntary exposure to the sun,” the researchers said.

Malignant melanoma, which often starts in an existing mole that becomes enlarged, is the kind of cancer most likely to spread and kill.

Researchers found 2,453 cases of invasive skin cancers among members of the health plan.

The American Cancer Society has estimated that half of all people who live to age 65 will have skin cancer at some point in their lives and predicted that malignant melanoma will kill 6,000 people this year.

“As individuals and as a society, it is only prudent to take precautions to save our skins,” said an editorial in the journal by Dr. Martin A. Weinstock of Brown University in Providence, R.I.

He called for preservation of the Earth’s ozone layer, which blocks harmful ultraviolet radiation, and early detection and treatment of skin cancers, as well as increased public awareness and use of sunscreens.