Utahns have higher risk for skin cancer
People play and swim on a sunny day at Wayne Bartholomew Family Park in Springville on Thursday, July 23, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Dermatologist Dr. Kimberly Pettit poses for a portrait with an inspection light she uses to look for skin cancer on patients, at American Fork Hospital on Wednesday, July 22, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Nobody likes a melanoma
Umbrellas shield some from the sun at Wayne Bartholomew Family Park in Springville on Thursday, July 23, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
People layout on a sunny day at Wayne Bartholomew Family Park in Springville on Thursday, July 23, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Dermatologist Dr. Kimberly Pettit poses for a portrait with an inspection light she uses to look for skin cancer on patients, at American Fork Hospital on Wednesday, July 22, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
People relax on a sunny day at Wayne Bartholomew Family Park in Springville on Thursday, July 23, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Umbrellas shield some from the sun at Wayne Bartholomew Family Park in Springville on Thursday, July 23, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
UTAH COUNTY — Headed to the beach for a vacation? Be sure to pack your sunscreen.
But if you’re staying in Utah, be sure to use it, too. The long holiday weekend will present opportunities for sunburns, which increases the risk of skin cancer.
A skin cancer report by a company named Vitals shows Utah ranks No. 47 in the nation for the overall rank of the risk for skin cancer. The ranks are lowest to highest, so Utahns have the fourth highest risk in the country.
And the overall incidence of skin cancer is increasing. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer over the course of a lifetime and skin cancer is diagnosed more often than cancer of the breast, prostate, lung and colon combined.
Dr. Kimberly Pettit, an Intermountain Healthcare dermatologist, said she has seen that trend in her practice. She used to practice in the military in the San Diego area.
“I saw two melanomas in three years then,” she said. “Since being in Utah for the past five years I have been finding a melanoma once every couple months.”
“It is very concerning,” she said. “Melanoma is only 2 percent of the skin cancer we diagnose, but it accounts for the majority of skin cancer deaths. It is concerning because young people die from it. It is the No. 1 cancer in the age range 25-29 in the United States.”
Three are three major types of skin cancer — basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. The basal cell variety has had about 2.8 million cases in the United States every year. It is very rarely lethal, she said.
Squamous cell carcinoma presents about 700,000 cases in a year, she said, and a few more people can die from that.
“Melanoma is less common, but accounts for a majority of our skin cancer deaths,” she said.
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, a person’s risk for melanoma doubles if he or she has had more than five sunburns. Individuals in Utah may think they are not at high risk, but the Vitals report shows Utah with the highest prevalence of sunburns in the country at 49.9 percent. Utah has the eighth highest percentage of Caucasian residents in the country. The light skin is more susceptible to developing melanoma.
Pettit gave advice for those who wish to avoid sunburns.
“Cover up as much as you can and use sunscreen,” she said. “It needs to be broad spectrum. The SPF only covers UVB rays, not UVA.”
And it should be applied enough and with frequency.
“The vast majority of people don’t use enough sunscreen,” she said. “They use wimpy doses. They have done studies that maybe 25 to 50 percent of the people use the recommended dose. It should be reapplied every two hours and should be water-resistant.”
Sunscreen can be of a physical or chemical nature. Physical sunscreen has titanium dioxide and zinc oxide and gives protection immediately after it is applied.
Chemical sunscreen should be applied 15 minutes before people are exposed.
“Don’t forget the problems areas like ears, lips and the parts in your hair,” she said. “They can be more deadly.”
Not all areas can be protected and not all cancer comes from sunburns. Part of preventing skin cancer or its effects is to perform self-examinations.
“Don’t forget to look in places the sun doesn’t shine, like your mouth, eyes, and the bottoms of your feet,” she said.
“If you have a mole, look for asymmetry with irregular borders,” she said. “Also check for color variation in the same mole. Look at the diameter. If it is bigger than 6 millimeters, it can be a concern. Also see if it is evolving or changing. Those are all signals it could be melanoma.”
Signs of squamous cell or basal cell carcinomas include a pimple that never goes away, pink spots that don’t go away, sores that don’t heal or spots that bleed easily.
“Do your self-skin exams every month and get to know your moles,” she said.
Pettit also cautioned about people using tanning beds.
“I am very against tanning beds,” she said. “They are definitely not safe. One tanning session increases your risk to have squamous cell carcinoma by 67 percent, basal cell carcinoma by 29 percent and melanoma by 20 percent.”
“And don’t forget you can still get UV exposure on cloudy days,” she said.
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