Skin cancer rates rising fastest in older men
OLDER men are at the fastest growing risk of the most deadly form of skin cancer, claim doctors. Cases of melanoma have increased by 12 per cent every year in men aged 60 and over during the last two decades, according to official figures.
Older women have the next highest rate of increase, prompting experts to warn that awareness campaigns have been too focused on targeting the young on social media.
Malignant melanoma is now the fifth most common cancer, affecting more than 13,000 Britons annually and killing 2,000 patients a year.
Experts blame the explosion in package holidays by sun- seekers starting in the 1960s, as well as young people spending more time than ever before in pursuit of a tan that often leads to cancer-causing sunburn.
Health awareness campaigns using social media have targeted young
‘Over-reliance on social media’
people – melanoma is the most common cancer in women in their 20s.
This means that older people may be missing vital information on the signs and symptoms of the disease, as it is not produced in formats that they would normally see.
A study shows skin cancer rates in England are rising faster in older men than any other age group, according to a study being presented next week at the World Congress on Cancers of the Skin in Edinburgh.
Conducted by analysts at Public Health England, the research found the most common type of skin cancer – called superficial spreading melanoma – increased by 12 per cent per year over a 21-year period (1990 to 2010) for men aged 60 and over.
This was followed by a nine per cent increase for older women and eight per cent in younger men.
The study also found thicker, more advanced tumours in older men are increasing at a greater rate – around 12 per cent a year compared with just six per cent in younger men. This suggests older men may be delaying seeking medical advice.
Melanoma is more common in men on the back, where it is difficult to spot early changes in a mole. Experts believe the rapidly rising rate in older people is partly because it is difficult to distinguish skin cancer from other harmless ailments, such as warts, that commonly develop in later life.
Older men also have the fastest rise in melanomas diagnosed on the trunk and upper limbs, at around a nine per cent increase per year.
The findings are mirrored by an earlier study into skin cancer in the Scottish population. It showed rates of melanoma trebling in men between 1979 and 2003 – with the greatest increases in those aged 60 and over.
Johnathon Major of the British Association of Dermatologists said: ‘Older men have continuously proved a problematic group for us to target with skin cancer advice and studies such as these underline the requirement to reach them.
‘We are constantly developing our communication initiatives to tender to wider audiences and target groups such as these who have been demonstrated to be in particular need.
‘With health messaging, there can be an over-reliance on newer technologies such as social media, but these don’t always reach the groups most in need.
‘There are two issues at play here – skin cancer rates are rising faster in this group, so we conclude that protecting the skin from sun damage is important for adult men as well as others, and second, there is concern that older men also seem to be presenting later.
‘This shows we need to address both our prevention messages, and our early detection messages, at older people as a matter of priority.’
Julia Verne, Director of the South West Knowledge and Intelligence Team, Public Health England, said:
‘The findings of this study highlight the need for education campaigns to target the entire spectrum of people across all demographics about the dangers of sunburn and sunbathing.’