Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 19, 1995 TAG: 9507190052
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Repeated sunburns more than double the risk of skin cancer, Boston researchers have found. The same study also shows cigarette smoking independently raises the skin cancer incidence rate by about 50 percent.
Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston analyzed the incidence of squamous cell carcinoma, a nonlethal form of skin cancer, among 107,900 nurses and found the number of sunburns in the past raised the risk of the disease more than any other factor.
``For this type of cancer, it is the number of sunburns during a lifetime that counts most,'' said Francine Grodstein, a co-author of the study.
A report on the study is to be published today in the Journal of National Cancer Institute.
The same study also found that the incidence of skin cancer among smokers was about 50 percent greater than for women who did not smoke. The study did not, however, determine if cigarettes increased the risk already present because of past sunburns, said Grodstein.
Geography also played role in the rate of skin cancer, said Grodstein. Independent of other risk factors, she said, nurses who lived at least the first 15 years of their lives in Florida were three times more likely to get skin cancer than did women living in Northern states. For women born and raised in California, the risk was 21/2 times greater, said Grodstein.
The skin cancer risk did not apply to all of the Sunbelt states. Texas women, for instance, had a skin cancer rate even lower than nurses in Northeastern states. This is probably related to outdoor sun exposure, the study said.
``Women in Texas reported spending the least amount of time outdoors in summer compared with those in other states,'' the study said.
Grodstein said that, as expected, hair color seemed to be a factor in the incidence of skin cancer related to the sun exposure. This was evaluated independently of the number of sunburns.
Women with black hair had only half the incidence of skin cancer, compared to women with dark brown hair. At the other end of the scale, women with red hair, often the most easily burned by the sun, had twice the risk of skin cancer of those with dark brown hair.
Other factors evaluated, including the use of sunscreen and the skin's sensitivity to sunlight, did not significantly affect the risk of skin cancer, said Grodstein.
Data in the study were based on answers provided by nurses on a questionnaire in 11 states. In addition to California, Texas and Florida, the states were Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Ohio.
Squamous cell carcinoma is a highly curable form of skin cancer. It is not as apt to invade other tissue and spread as does malignant melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.
by CNB