While May 2011 is Skin Cancer Awareness Month, the war rages on between those that want to tan naturally and unnaturally and the agency that is doing its damndest to save lives from overexposure to harmful UV rays that damage the skin’s natural defense and can often lead to increased prevalence of killer melanoma.

Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer. If it is recognized and treated early, it is almost always curable, but if it is not, the cancer can advance and spread to other parts of the body, where it becomes hard to treat and can be fatal. While it is not the most common of the skin cancers, it causes the most deaths.

The American Cancer Society estimates that at present, about 120,000 new cases of melanoma in the US are diagnosed in a year. In 2010, about 68,130 of these were invasive melanomas, with about 38,870 in males and 29,260 in women.

In the news lots this year so far, tanning beds have been under heavy far from not only skin protection agencies but also the FDA. Recent studies provide evidence linking indoor tanning bed use to melanoma and reinforce the declaration by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) that indoor tanning devices are carcinogenic to humans.

Steven Q. Wang, MD, member of The Skin Cancer Foundation’s independent Photobiology Committee and Director of Dermatologic Surgery and Dermatology at Memorial Sloan Kettering, Basking Ridge, New Jersey comments:

“While the medical community has known anecdotally that indoor tanning is linked with melanoma, it has been difficult to provide the evidence. These new studies show conclusively that indoor tanning bed use can lead to melanoma.”

Tanning beds are currently regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as Class I medical devices, in the same safety category as elastic bandages and tongue depressors. But UV radiation from either the sun or tanning machines is a proven human carcinogen (cancer-causing agent), and the chief cause of skin cancer.

During May, The Skin Cancer Foundation will be asking for 10,000 people to sign a letter to the Surgeon General Benjamin asking her to urge the FDA to enact stricter regulations and more oversight of tanning beds. At the time this article was written, 576 electronic signatures have been obtained.

Both UVA and UVB rays are dangerous to the skin, and can induce skin cancer, including melanoma. Blistering sunburns in early childhood increase risk, but cumulative exposure also may be a factor. People who live in locations that have more sunlight, like Florida, Hawaii, and Australia develop more skin cancers.

There are three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma. Because each has many different appearances, it is important to know the early warning signs. One should look especially for change of any kind and not ignore a suspicious spot simply because it does not hurt. Skin cancers may be painless, but dangerous all the same. If a person notices one or more of the warning signs, see a doctor right away, preferably one who specializes in diseases of the skin.

Sources: The Skin Cancer Foundation and The American Cancer Society

Written by Sy Kraft