A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed an increase of nonmelanoma skin cancer among men and women under 40, and found a disproportionate increase in basal cell carcinoma in young women.
The increased likelihood of cancer in that age group emphasizes the need to focus on skin cancer prevention in young adults, the study said.
Anna O'Neill, a freshman in the School of International Service, said she sunbathed this past weekend because of the sunny, warm weather. She said she usually uses sunscreen unless the sky is overcast or if she does not plan on staying outside for long.
"Usually I don't put it on as a preventative measure unless I know I'm going to be outside for hours at a time," O'Neill said.
While getting sun exposure has been reported as a good source for vitamin D, walking to and from classes gives adequate sun for health benefits for college students, according to Dr. Leslie Christenson, staff dermatological surgeon and researcher at the Mayo Clinic.
Christenson said it takes 15 minutes in the sun for our bodies to detect damage to DNA. "There's probably been significant damage" after 30 minutes of sun exposure, she said.
Christenson recommends self-tanners for added color, and using sunscreen when outdoors instead of sunbathing or going to tanning booths.
Cara O'Shell, also a freshman in SIS, said she does not usually sunbathe because the sun in Albuquerque, her hometown, is strong because of the city's altitude. However, she has been to tanning beds and does not use sunscreen often.
O'Shell said she knows people who have had skin cancer but have had the cancer successfully removed.
"It doesn't seem as big of a deal ... because of that," she said.
The Mayo Clinic study looked at the charts of patients from Olmsted County, Minn., younger than 40 with basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed between 1976 and 2003. Each case was reported as the first instance of skin cancer experienced by the patient.
There was no personal contact with the subjects whose records were studied, Christenson said, so behavior that may have contributed to the development of the cancer could not be determined.
"We hope in the future we will get funding" to contact the subjects and compare their living habits, she said.
