A new study to come out of the US National Institute of Health has linked the increasing rates of melanoma diagnosis in young women to an increased exposure to artificial UVA. In a review published in Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research this month, the authors draw on National Cancer Institute melanoma prevalence research to suggest a causative link between melanoma incidence in young women and the rates of UVA tanning device usage in the USA.
While acknowledging that a causal link between UVA exposure and melanoma is not definite, the authors suggest that “the role of UVA in melanomagenesis merits further investigation” and conclude that “the increasing use of UVA-rich sunlamps underlies, at least in part, the dramatic rise in melanomas disproportionately in young females”.
For more on the UV tanning response, see this month’s technical note
This study claims in part that UVA tanning is responsible for the dramatic rise in melanomas disproportionately in young females. But are more young girls obtaining skin cancer screenings and with more seen, more detected? The American Cancer Society’s SEER report provides statistics that maintain that age of 90% of melanoma incidence is 45 years and older. The median age is 60.
Note that the ACS report does not track basal or squamous cell cancers, as most are treated on an out-patient basis. Read more at:
http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2006/results_merged/sect_16_melanoma_skin.pdf