Skin protection urged to help avoid cancer

Larry Cruikshank/ViewDr. H. L. Greenberg examines patient Rachael Hicks? arm on May 9 at Las Vegas Dermatology, 653 N. Town Center Drive, Suite 308. Advertisement

Local retiree Ronald Humphrey grew up in Southern California and calls himself a "sun freak."

"I lived in the sun. I laid out to get as much sun as I could, and get as dark as I could," he said.

Earlier this year, he noticed a reddish, raised area underneath his lip. It wouldn't go away. In fact, it got bigger and began bleeding.

He went to Dr. H. L. Greenberg's office at Las Vegas Dermatology, 653 N. Town Center Drive, Suite 308, and a biopsy was done. A couple of days later, on March 14, he received a phone call. He was told he had basil carcinoma, a type of skin cancer.

That same day, Greenberg removed the cancer so Humphrey could travel the next morning to visit his daughter in Dallas.

She had a mole on her back that was giving her problems. Humphrey urged her to get it checked. She did -- it was melanoma. She is now being treated.

May is National Skin Cancer Awareness Month and Greenberg plans a free skin clinic from 8 to 11:30 a.m. by appointment on Friday at his practice.

Greenberg said avoidance of excess sun exposure is important in foiling skin cancer.

There are 1 million new cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer per year, and one third of all cancers of all types, are skin cancers, according to the American Cancer Society.

Each year, almost 300 Nevadans will be diagnosed with melanoma, reports the Nevada Cancer Institute, and approximately 60 will die from the disease. About 90 percent of early-stage skin cancers can be removed, according to the institute.

Even the most serious form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma, has a five-year survival rate of more than 95 percent when found early, the institute reported.

When it comes to sun screen lotions, "it's helpful, but if people don't reapply it, they're still at risk," Greenberg said. "People put it on at the beginning of the day and think they're set, but they need to reapply it every two hours."

It might need reapplying even sooner, he said, for people jumping in and out of a swimming pool.

Besides using the correct amount of sun protection lotion, Dr. Hamidreza Sanatinia of the Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada said residents should wear hats.

Recent studies by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill concluded that melanoma on the scalp and neck are more dangerous than those found on other parts of the body. Why the increased danger? It's suspected that the cancer's proximity to other vital areas -- like the brain and lymphatic system -- combined with the fact that melanoma of the scalp is often detected in later phases because hair can cover telltale lesions.

Sanatinia, who practices in the Southern Hills area, said that sunburn episodes as a child increase one's chances of skin cancer, as do one's genes.

"When I see someone with a tan, personally, I think it's unnecessary," Sanatinia said. "You should feel good about yourself, no matter what your skin color is."

Greenberg said he's seen more skin cancer in Las Vegas than in any of the places he has trained, including the District of Columbia, Wisconsin and Texas.

"Just like with smoking cigarettes, that 41st year of smoking does more harm than the first 40 years, as there is a cumulative effect," Greenberg said. "It's never too late to quit."