Melanoma Risk For White Marathon Runners

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Main Category: Dermatology
Also Included In: Sports Medicine / Fitness;  Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 21 Nov 2006 - 10:00 PDT

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If you have white/fair skin and do a lot of marathon running you should be aware that your chances of developing melanoma might be higher, say researchers from the Medical University of Graz, Austria. Dermatologists there found that a noticeable number of their melanoma patients were ultra-marathon runners.

(Melanoma = Malignant tumor of the skin. Skin cancer)

In fact, two of the authors of this study were enthusiastic marathon runners and wondered whether their activity might be linked to an increased risk of developing skin cancer.

You can read about this in the Archives of Dermatology.

The researchers looked at 420 people, half were marathon runners while the other half were not. All were checked by a dermatologist (skin doctor). They found more abnormal moles and lesions among the marathon runners. 24 of the runners required surgical treatment, compared to 14 from the non-marathon group.

They also found that the prevalence of abnormal moles and lesions was higher the more the marathon runners trained.

The raised risk for white marathon runners is a supposition, as all the 420 people in this study were white. Generally, white/fair skinned people are more vulnerable to skin cancer when exposed to sunlight than people with darker skin. As most marathon runners train out in the open they are exposed to more hours of sunlight, compared to non-marathon runners.

Just over half of all the marathoners regularly applied sunscreen. Perhaps all runners should use sunscreen, say the researchers. (Sunscreen = Sunblock = Any ointment/cream which reduces the amount of dangerous rays that hit your skin)

The researchers who are marathon runners themselves said it is important to be reminded to keep wearing the right gear and use sunscreen. They added that few marathon runners are aware of the skin cancer risk. There are more ways of reducing your exposure to sunlight, such as training early/late in the day, wearing clothes that cover more of your body (beware of getting too hot).

"Malignant Melanoma in Marathon Runners"
Christina M. Ambros-Rudolph, MD; Rainer Hofmann-Wellenhof, MD; Erika Richtig, MD; Manuela Müller-Fürstner, MD; H. Peter Soyer, MD; Helmut Kerl, MD
Arch Dermatol. 2006;142:1471-1474.
Click here to view abstract online

Written by: Christian Nordqvist
Editor: Medical News Today
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