A study into forty years of skin cancer diagnoses in the UK, led by a professor from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, shows a massive increase in rates among men and women but "stabilising" rates among those under 34.
The number of cases among men has gone up five-fold and the number of cases in women have risen by 250%, driven by increases in those aged 35 and over.
The study, by Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS), analysed data on more than 265,000 people diagnosed with skin cancer in England between 1981 and 2018.
Professor Anjum Memon, chair in epidemiology and public health medicine at BSMS and lead author of the study, said those years had seen a "steady and significant" increase in skin cancer rates in those aged over 35.
He added:
"We observed that the steepest increase was in males (more than two-fold that of females) and at old ages.
"The steeper increase in males is consistent with their relatively greater sun exposure and poor sun-protective behaviour."
But Prof. Memon's team also held out some hope for the future.
His report said:
"It appears that the incidence of melanoma among young people in England has stabilised (or levelled off) in recent decades..."
"These findings suggest that public health campaigns targeted at children/adolescents/parents may be favourably influencing melanoma incidence.
"The steeper increase in incidence in males is consistent with their relatively greater sun exposure and poor sun-protective behaviour."
The paper firmly puts the blame on modern leisure-time pursuits.
"All the available evidence suggests that the enormous increase in the melanoma of the trunk and upper limb, since the 1980s, is most likely due to increasing trend in intermittent high intensity recreational UV radiation exposure (e.g. sunbathing, holidaying in places with strong sunlight, indoor tanning)."
Skin cancer is the fifth-most common cancer in the UK and an estimated 86% of cases are due to excessive exposure to UV radiation from the sun.
The whole study can be read, free of charge, here:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666776221000016
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