Skin Care: Causes of skin cancer in areas that are never exposed to the sun.
Posted on Tue, May 10, 2011
"I read that the sun does not cause melanoma because melanoma can grow in areas the sun never reaches..."
The cause of melanoma is multi-factorial and involves the complex interactions of both environmental and genetic factors. Like many cancers, hereditary factors play a major role in predisposing you to getting melanoma. If you have a family or personal history of melanoma, you have an increased risk of getting melanoma in your lifetime. People who have many moles, as well as those who have skin types that are prone to burning, also have an increased risk for melanoma. These chances are further increased with sun exposure.
How sun exposure comes into play.
The relationship of UV radiation to the cause of melanoma is not well understood. However, it is suggested that at least 65% of melanomas are related to sun exposure. When we talk about sun exposure, we are really talking about ultra-violet radiation. We all know about the dangers of too much radiation exposure whether it be from x-rays or nuclear power plants. The same goes for UV radiation.
Small amounts of sun exposure are useful to stimulate vitamin D production in our bodies. However, too much can increase our chances of skin cancer. Although squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma usually occur on the sun exposed areas of our body, melanoma can grow anywhere on the skin including the eyes, mouth and even where the sun has never seen.
It has been suggested that sun exposure (UV radiation) is linked to these locations even though direct sun exposure to the area never occurred because the UV radiation on any other part of your body might activate a melanoma elsewhere. So, too much sun exposure, in general, gives you an increased risk of melanoma that could occur anywhere on the body.
Good skin care involves protecting yourself from the effects of sun exposure.
We cannot change the genes we were given, but we can do our best to protect ourselves from the environmental factors that could influence our chances of skin cancer with avoidance, protection and education.
By Marné CarMichael Walsh, M.S., PA-C
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