Summer is well and truly upon us, with record-breaking temperatures seeing London reaching 35°C in May – beating temperatures in Havana, Barcelona, Cape Town, and Mexico City. Extreme heat is expected to become more common in the coming years, so it’s time to start thinking about sun safety.
Five or more sunburns in your lifetime – wherever you are in the world – can double your risk of melanoma skin cancer. And analysis from Cancer Research UK shows that melanoma rates have increased by around a quarter in the last decade, rising faster than any other common cancer. For non-melanoma skin cancer, which is typically less deadly but still serious, rates have more than doubled since the 1990s.
This rise may sound alarming, but it’s important to note that 90 per cent of skin cancer cases each year are preventable, and are caused by exposure to too much ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and sunbeds.
Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is currently the most common type of cancer globally and while NMSCs have a high survival rate in comparison to melanoma, awareness of them is lower. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common skin cancer in the UK, accounting for 75 per cent of all skin cancers. Melanoma lesions are usually the ones people fear the most, as they can be deadly and may be mistaken for benign moles.
