Smoking warning over skin cancer
HEALTH: People with an aggressive form of skin cancer could be 40 per cent less likely to survive if they have a history of smoking, research suggests.
A study by the University of Leeds, funded by Cancer Research UK, found evidence that smoking is a blight on the body’s immune response to melanoma.
PEOPLE WITH an aggressive form of skin cancer could be 40 per cent less likely to survive if they have a history of smoking, new research suggests.
A study by the University of Leeds, funded by Cancer Research UK, found evidence that smoking is a blight on the body’s immune response to melanoma.
Researchers studied more than 700 melanoma patients and found that smokers were significantly less likely to survive the illness, linked to prolonged exposure to strong sunlight, than those who had never smoked within a decade after their diagnosis.
Some patients were four and a half times less likely to survive if they had been smokers, the research found.
Lead author Julia NewtonBishop, professor of dermatology at the University of Leeds, said: “Based on these findings, stopping smoking should be strongly recommended for people diagnosed with melanoma.”
While the study found a strong association between smoking and survival, it could not determine for sure if smoking was the direct cause. But the researchers said they believe that smoking may have had an impact on patients’ immune systems, reducing their ability to fight their skin cancer, as well as increasing their risk of other smoking-related health issues.
Prof Newton-Bishop said: “The immune system is like an orchestra, with multiple pieces.
“This research suggests that smoking might disrupt how it works together in tune, allowing the musicians to continue playing but possibly in a more disorganised way.
“The result is that smokers could still mount an immune response to try and destroy the melanoma, but it appears to have been less effective than in neversmokers, and smokers were less likely to survive their cancer.”
Dr Julie Sharp, head of health information at Cancer Research UK, said: “Overall, these results show that smoking could limit the chances of melanoma patients’ survival so it’s especially important that they are given all the support possible to give up smoking for good.”
Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK, with around 16,000 people diagnosed with the illness each year.
Over the last 10 years, the number of people diagnosed with melanoma in the UK has increased by almost half. The risk of melanoma is heightened by exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun or sunbeds.
The first sign of melanoma is a new mole on the skin or a change in the appearance of an existing mole.
The new research follows a warning that sunbeds are “killing machines” from a Tory MP who called for an outright ban on them.
Mid Derbyshire MP Pauline Latham spoke about the discovery of her own malignant mole and the death of her brother from a melanoma.
She urged the Government to ban the commercial use and sale of sunbeds, adding that Brazil and Australia had already banned them commercially.
Speaking at a Westminster Hall debate, Mrs Latham said: “Who needs sunbeds? No-one. But many people in the UK believe they look healthier with a tan, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.”
The World health Organisation has said sunbeds are as dangerous as smoking.
Stopping smoking should be strongly recommended.
Julia Newton-Bishop, professor of dermatology at the University of Leeds.