Skin Cancer Awareness Month the perfect opportunity to share messages of sun safety

Staying safe in the sun is always important, but even more typical British weather can still harm your skin.

Lancashire and South Cumbria Cancer Alliance is highlighting the damage sun can do during Skin Cancer Awareness Month – which happens to have coincided with a hot and sunny May for much of the country.

Mr Ken McAlister, the Cancer Alliance’s consultant clinical lead for skin, said: “Even on a cloudy day between March and October, the sun in our part of the world is strong enough to cause damage to the skin.

“So when it is lovely and warm like we’ve been experiencing recently, it is so important that you take precautions and keep an eye on any changes to your skin or moles.”

The Cancer Alliance promotes a ‘123 of sun safety’:

1. Spend time in the shade, especially between 11am and 3pm in the UK.
2. Cover up with clothes, a wide-brimmed hat, and UV protection sunglasses.
3. Apply sunscreen with at least SPF 30 and four or five stars. Use it generously, reapply regularly, and use together with shade and clothing.

In addition, people are also encouraged to follow the ABCDE method for checking your skin, which explains some of the signs of melanoma (skin cancer) to look out for:

• Asymmetrical - Melanomas are likely to have an uneven shape. The two halves of a mole or an abnormal patch of skin may be different shapes or sizes
• Border – Normal moles have a smooth, regular border, but melanomas are more likely to have irregular edges that are blurry or jagged. 
• Colour - Melanomas are often an uneven colour and contain more than one shade. A melanoma might have different shades of black, brown and pink.
• Diameter - Moles are usually about the size of the end of a pencil or smaller, but most melanomas are more than 6mm wide. But they can be smaller if diagnosed early.
• Evolving – Melanomas may change in size, shape or colour, or you might notice other changes such as bleeding, crustiness, itching, or a change in sensation to a mole or area of abnormal skin.

It is important to talk to your GP if you notice changes to your skin and/or moles.

Of course, the risk of skin cancer doesn’t just apply to being in the sun – using a sunbed is also one of the most significant causes of skin cancer. It is estimated that in the UK about 100 people die each year from melanomas that are due to sunbed use.

Mr McAlister added: “Sunbeds give off UV rays that can be much stronger than the midday sun, and studies have found that if your first exposure to sunbed tanning is before the age of 35, it can lead to a much higher risk of developing skin cancer.

“The damage that UV rays can cause may not even become visible for up to eight to 10 years, so continuing to use sunbeds over a long period of time can be extremely dangerous.”

Laura Harvie, from Blackpool, is a senior communications and engagement manager at Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, who recently underwent surgery on her face to have an ‘in situ’ melanoma removed. It has been attributed by her dermatology consultant as most likely caused by using tanning beds as a teenager and throughout her 20s.

She said: “As someone who has worn SPF50 on their face every day since my late 20s and has always worn sunscreen on holiday abroad, it was scary to find out that my use of tanning beds when I was younger was most likely to have caused this type of skin cancer.

“I noticed some new freckles on my face, nose and chest and I’m so glad I went to get them checked out at my GP practice. I was given an urgent two-week referral to dermatology at Clifton hospital, and three freckles turned out to be solar lentigos that are caused by sun damage but are not cancerous, but the one on my nose was malignant.

“The ‘freckle’ was surgically removed within a few days of diagnosis. I’m now recovering well from the surgery and just waiting for the all-clear from my biopsy results about whether the cancer has spread – though it’s highly unlikely as the view is that it has been caught early.

“I just wish that I’d known how dangerous tanning beds could be and how the damage done at a young age can then come back and affect you in your 40s. I’d encourage everyone to avoid using these beds, wear SPF50 on your face, even in winter, always wear a high factor sunscreen in the sun and regularly check their face and body for new freckles, moles, marks or changes in existing ones. It could just save your life.”

For more information on melanoma skin cancer, visit www.nhs.uk/conditions/melanoma-skin-cancer