May is “Skin Cancer Awareness Month” and agricultural workers are one of the highest risk groups to get skin cancer because of their outside exposure to the sun. The incidence of skin cancer is increasing by epidemic proportions.
Dr. Anthony Jerant M.D., University of California at Davis, indicates that the basal cell cancer remains the most common skin neoplasm, and simple excision is generally curative. No doubt that malignant melanoma is one that we hear the most about and likely because it accounts for 75 percent of all deaths associated with skin cancer. Early detection greatly improves the prognosis of patients with malignant melanoma.
Sun exposure remains the most important risk factor for all skin neoplasms. Thus, patients should be taught basic “safe sun” measures: sun avoidance during peak ultraviolet-B hours; proper use of sunscreen and protective clothing; and avoidance of suntanning.
One in six Americans develops skin cancer at some point. Skin cancer accounts for one-third of all cancers in the United States. Most patients with skin cancer develop non-melanoma skin cancer. This group of cancers includes basal cell carcinoma, the most common neoplasm worldwide, and squamous cell carcinoma. Fortunately, mortality associated with non-melanoma skin cancer is unusual. As previously mentioned, malignant melanoma accounts for 75 percent of all deaths associated with skin cancer.
Melanoma, the eighth most common malignancy in the United States, is the cancer with the most rapidly increasing incidence. One in 1,500 Americans born in 1935 were likely to develop melanoma, compared with one in 105 persons born in 1993. In contrast to non-melanoma skin cancer, which typically affects older persons, the frequency of melanoma peaks between 20 and 45 years of age.
Mortality rates are higher in men than in women. This higher rate may occur because lesions tend to develop in less easily observed areas, such as the back, in men. The rising incidence of skin cancer over the past several decades may be primarily attributed to increased sun exposure associated with societal and lifestyle shifts in the U.S. population and some refer to a depletion of the protective ozone layer.
For more information on protecting yourself from the sun, refer to the following publication developed by Oklahoma State University for people involved with agriculture: www.nasdonline.org/document/928/d000769/the-dark-side-of-the-sun-sun-exp...