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Health, Safety & Environmental Bulletin No 025

J Brown – 29 June 2006

Skin Cancer

In the UK there are over 7000 new cases of skin cancer diagnosed each year, and many
cases are not reported so the exact number is probably much higher. The number of
cases has doubled since the early 80s and over 2000 people die each year in the UK. In
2000 there was an increase of 16%, and 24% over the next 5 years up to 2005.

Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the UK and the number of people
getting it is increasing. Most skin cancers are caused by damage from U.V. (ultraviolet)
rays in sunlight, these could be prevented if we protect ourselves from the sun.

Just because we live in the UK it doesn’t mean we can’t get it, in fact there are more
skin cancer deaths in the UK than in Australia even though Australia has more reported
cases of the disease. Just because in this country we don’t have sunshine weather 365
days a year doesn’t mean we are immune. The minute we get any good weather in the
UK, if you go down any street, any park, any building site you will always see people
trying to “get a bit of colour” with shorts and T shirts or rather lack of T shirts, just so
we can go that lobster red then peel before we tan!

There are 2 types of U.V Rays- UVA and UVB:
• UVB radiation has a shorter wavelength and penetrates the upper layer of the
epidermis and can cause sunburn and skin cancer.
• UVA radiation has a longer wavelength and penetrates deeper into the dermis
affecting elastin and ageing the skin. Until recently UVA was thought not to have a
roll in skin cancer development, but increasing evidence shows that UVA and UVB
both cause damage to the DNA which can lead to skin cancer.

There are 2 types of skin cancer- Malignant Melanoma and Non Melanoma.

Malignant Melanoma is the most serious type. It usually develops in the cells in the
outer layers of skin but can spread to other parts of the body and may be fatal.
Melanoma may start with a change in a pre existing mole or freckle or previously
normal skin.