A burning issue

WITH the passing of one of the wettest winters on record many of us are only too happy to strip off at the first sign of the sun.

But with 1,500 people dying annually of skin cancer many of us need to take heed of the warnings and dangers of basking in the rays.

And one person who knows this only to well is Hampshire nurse Polly Buchanan.

Polly, 45, from Fordingbridge, first got involved with the Melanoma or skin cancer in the late 1980s when she was working as a research nurse in dermatology at the Royal South Hants Hospital.

She was shocked by how little information there was available for sufferers of the disease.

After changing jobs, she started working for Southampton University and came into contact with the mother of Swindon teenager, Marc Roberts who had skin cancer.

She spoke to Mrs Roberts on the phone constantly over a nine-month period until Marc died aged just 19.

Determined to provide other sufferers with support, Polly, with the help of Wessex Cancer Trust, and Marc's family, set up Marc's Line, a helpline dedicated towards offering advice for sufferers.

Initially an informal organisation in 1993, Marc's Line has snowballed into a national skin cancer information network.

Now project director of Marc's Line, Polly admits it has become a complete passion for her.

The helpline, based at Salisbury District Hospital, is now just one of three important threads. The charity is also a resource information centre for health professionals and a network of nurses throughout the country.

Today Marc's Line gets 50 calls from sufferers and the website 3,000 hits every week.

Mother-of-three Polly said: "In the late 1980s nobody was providing that sort of support to sufferers and that's what nurses do best.

"At Marc's Line we are here for the patients and that's the driving force.

"Calls are never depressing, although they can be sad - that's the nature of melanoma.

"Patients need to talk to someone."

The charity was also established to raise awareness because as Polly is quick to point out, the sooner skin cancer is diagnosed, the more curable it is.

Malignant melanoma is the rarest form of skin cancer and affects 6,000 people a year in this country. It is an aggressive form of the disease and is potentially the most dangerous if left untreated.

However, if caught early, as with all other skin cancers, it is readily curable but despite increased publicity about the condition in recent years, it still kills 1,500 people in the UK annually.

The death toll from malignant melanoma is doubly frustrating to medics as, unlike most cancers which are invisible and internal, melanomas are on show and relatively easy to spot.

Melanoma is a collection of cancerous melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells of the outer layer of skin, and usually occur as a mole measuring in excess of six millimetres across. Over several months, the mole will spread out and darken.

Many melanomas develop within pre-existing moles, although some also occur in previously normal skin. In women, more than 50 per cent of melanomas occur on the leg - particularly between the knee and ankle - while for men the commonest site is the back.

These are the areas which tend to get burnt as they are covered up most of the year and exposed the minute the sun comes out.

When it is on the surface of the skin a malignant melanomas is relatively easy to treat. The mole is surgically removed and the threat of cancer is gone. But if left to develop, the cancerous cells will spread to enter the bloodstream or the lympathic system - and more often than not result in death.

The condition is more likely to affect people who are very fair, tend to freckle easily, already have lots of moles and have suffered sunburn frequently in their lives.

Unlike most cancers it is more common in women, ranking second after cervical cancer. It also affects many young people, 18 per cent of cases occur in the 15-39 age group. For other types of cancer the figure among this age group is only 4 per cent.

Figures show that it is rising worldwide and 12 countries are taking part in the second European Melanoma Day which was held on Monday (June 4) as part of Sun Awareness Week.

Dermatologist Dr Dafydd Roberts is chairman of the UK skin cancer working party which is promoting Sun Awareness Week.

"People are usually referred to dermatologists through their GPs,"' he says. "These days we say that we should see anyone within two weeks and most centres comply with that.

"It is taken very seriously. The thing about melanoma is that it is a curable cancer if treated early. The five year survival rate if it is dealt with early is over 90 per cent while the same survival rate if it is not dealt with early is as low as 30per cent."

He urges anyone who notices a change in a mole to contact their doctor rather than leave it, thinking it is nothing. "One of the problems is that less than half of them (moles) itch or bleed. The changes can be more subtle in the early stages and that is one of the difficulties."

So what about prevention?

Clothes are the best guaranteed protection as, unlike sunscreens, they don't rub off in the heat.

But it is important to wear sunscreen as well. Experts recommend choosing one with an Sun Protection Factor of between 15-20. The SPF factor protects the skin from the sun's UVB rays which is responsible for 80 per cent to 90 per cent of sunburn, photoageing and cancer.

It is also important to use one that protects against the sun's UVA rays which can cause the development of abnormal skin reactions such as prickly heat. Try and get one which has four star UVA protection.

Polly concluded: "Enjoy the fine weather, but don't put yourselves as risk."