A regional programme based at Christchurch Hospital, Canterbury, has resulted in a greater number of skin cancers being treated by the public health system, a reduction in waiting times for treatment, and fewer minor skin lesions being referred to secondary care.
Poor practices continue to exist among sunbed operators in New Zealand, according to the latest Consumer NZ mystery shopper survey. Based upon these results, Consumer NZ will be calling for a ban of sunbeds in New Zealand in its submission on Government proposals for industry regulation.
The use of statins was associated with increased NMSC risk in a cohort of postmenopausal white women, according to an analysis of data from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Observational Study and WHI Clinical Trial. According to the study authors, “as statin use is likely to increase significantly in the future under the new statin use guidelines and NMSC is already the most common cancer in the United States, these results may be important and warrant further investigation”.
Cancer Council Australia, along with the Australasian College of Dermatologists, the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society, Osteoporosis Australia and the Endocrine Society of Australia have released new guidelines to ensure consistency of public health advice relating to UV, vitamin D and sun protection.
Sunbeds were strongly associated with increased melanoma risk among women, especially among women younger than 30 years, according to results of a recent study. For these younger women, indoor tanning was associated with a 6-fold increase in the likelihood of developing melanoma. Furthermore, nearly all women in the study (96.8%) diagnosed as having melanoma when younger than 30 years had engaged in indoor tanning, all initiating indoor tanning before age 25 years, and nearly all (90.5%) engaging in frequent indoor tanning (>10 times per year).
The European Commission and its Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (SCENIHR) have launched a public consultation on biological UV effects, with a particular reference to sunbeds.
Two recently published retrospective studies provide differing perspectives on the influence of pregnancy on the development, progression and prognosis of melanoma.
In this explorative analysis of survival data from recent clinical trials, the authors found that kinase inhibitors are similarly effective as immune checkpoint blockers for patients with advanced melanoma. They conclude that results have to be confirmed by prospective clinical trials including head-to-head comparisons
Recent findings from a large retrospective study may help identify patients with melanoma who are at increased risk of developing keratinocyte skin cancer and could benefit most from preventive measures.
Years lived with disability (YLD) generated by localised melanoma which will never metastasise was found to be inferior to years of life lost (YLL) resulting from stage IA melanomas, according to a recent review of the distribution of melanoma burden amongst localised, node metastatic and distant metastatic stages.