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While the vast majority of skin cancers occur in whites, nonwhites are not immune. A recent retrospective study showed that in whites and Hispanics basal cell carcinoma was the most frequent skin cancer diagnosis, however in blacks and Asians, the potentially more ominous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was more common. Also, as opposed to whites, […]

While it is true that the darker your natural skin pigmentation the lower your risk of melanoma, no one is immune. In Hispanics, as expected the rate of melanoma is lower than non-Hispanic whites. However the melanomas that are diagnosed in this patient population are on average more advanced and the melanoma-specific survival is lower […]

We already know that the extra UV exposure from indoor tanning increases your risk of skin cancer. New research now show that melanoma patients who had previously used indoor tanning had a much higher risk of developing a second melanoma and developed that second melanoma sooner than others. Approximately 65% of patients exposed to artificial […]

Take a closer look at your eyes. What can your eyes tell you about your melanoma risk? Well we already know that people with light colored eyes, blue or green tend to have a higher risk of skin cancer in general. A recent study has shown that pigmented lesions on the iris (that’s the colored […]

Maybe red meat is not all bad! A recent study looked for a link between consumption of red and processed meat and melanoma. They used data from over 75,000 women and 48,000 men from the Nurse Health Study and Health Professionals follow up Study. In these groups a total of 1318 melanomas were identified. I […]

What is the link between cancer and Alzheimer’s? A little know fact is that there seems to be a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s disease (a common form of dementia) in patients with various cancers. A recent study looked looked for this link with skin cancers and found a surprisingly large effect. Looking back at data […]

When concerned about the possibility of skin cancer often the dermatologist can reassure the patient that the lesion is not worrisome, and save the patient the anxiety, scar and cost associated with a biopsy. However sometimes the lesion will be deemed suspicious enough to warrant a biopsy. There is both science and judgment involved in […]

You may have expected it, but now its confirmed, having a full body skin cancer screening exam by a physician increases the chances of detecting an early rather than late melanoma. But what you may not have realized is the power of your own “self exam”. By performing regular self exams patients can increase the […]

Marriage just may save you from having a more advanced melanoma! A study from the University of Pennsylvania looked back at the marital status of over 50,000 patients diagnosed with melanoma. Married patients were more likely to be diagnosed with an earlier rather than latter stage of melanoma compared to none married patients. Earlier stages […]

When most of us think of the BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 mutations we think of women and breast cancer. However BRCA mutations can increase the risk of other malignancies including melanoma. A recent study from Israel has show that men with these mutations are also at risk. They found that men with BRCA 1 […]