Melanoma skin cancer patients are at risk for developing other forms of cancer

Published in factoidz

 

Even though melanoma isn’t the most common form of cancer it lives up to its deadly reputation by being one of the most serious. In 2009, 5,000 Canadians were reported as having melanoma and 940 of them have already died. About a million melanoma cases will be reported in the USA this year. Melanoma is a skin cancer that has been on the rise due to the penetrating ultra violet rays emitted by the sun.

The rates for survival are high in Canada as 87 per cent of men and 97 percent of woman are still alive five years later, however the risk for returning cancer is just as high.

A research team from the National Cancer Institute in the U.S surveyed nine cancer registries of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program during 1973 and 2000. Of the 90,000 melanoma patients who had survived for at least 2 months, 12 percent of these survivors developed other forms of primary cancer. A quarter of these cancers were other melanoma cancers. At high risk were woman who had head and neck melanoma. Also patients under the age of 30 were at risk for developing another cancer.

All in all the melanoma sufferers had a 28 percent greater chance of contracting another type of cancer and a 9.1 percent chance of contracting another form of melanoma.

What is causing this alarming finding? The researchers conclude that, this increased risk may be owing to lifestyles, genetics, or medical surveillance.

Physicians can no longer treat melanoma as a single event that is treated and then goes away. Melanoma sufferers must be monitored the rest of their lives. The researchers from the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands conclude that melanoma must be considered a chronic illness and a whole new health strategy must be implemented, including continual monitoring, education, and prevention strategies.

Some known risk factors for melanoma skin cancer:

The sun’s ultraviolet rays, and artificial tanning procedures

Genetic factors

Dysplastic nevi (large moles) and about 50 types of smaller moles

Fair skin that freckles and burns easily

Severe sunburn that blisters (even one severe skin blister in a life time can put the individual at risk)

A weakened immune system due to HIV, other cancers, and medications given after an organ transplant

For a list of Montreal dermatology clinics click here http://www.findprivateclinics.ca/Dermatology/17-0.html

Sources:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100317/melanoma_120317/20100317?hub=Health