Melanoma vs. Prostate Cancer

New research suggests that sunlight can help prevent prostate cancer but that the benefits of sun exposure (Vitamin D) are outweighed by the risks of skin cancer. Or at least that is what the headline ("Sunlight threat cancels benefits") in Newsday suggests. The article itself doesn't go into much detail about that though other than saying researchers are not suggesting men expose themselves more to the sun than they already are and that the safest way to get Vitamin D is to take it orally.

What I liked best about the article though were the suggested reasons for why men are more at risk of getting melanoma than women (e.g. we don't protect ourselves, we don't go to the doctor, we spend more time outdoors, etc.).

Excerpts from Newsday:

The prostate-cancer researchers also stressed that sunlight is not the only source of vitamin D and that they are not encouraging men to increase sun exposure.


"While clearly melanoma is a concern for everyone, it is at a crisis level for men," said foundation president, Dr. Perry Robins, and particularly for men in middle age and beyond. Between 1969 and 1999, melanoma death rates rose 66 percent in men ages 45 to 64, compared to 19 percent among women of the same age group.

Men are falling short in all three key steps for preventing melanoma, according to Alan Geller, an associate professor of dermatology at Boston University and co-chair of the National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention.

He noted that one recent study found that men over 40 spend the most time outdoors of any age group, even children. Another recent national survey of 1,000 Americans found that only 12 percent of men always apply sunscreen when they head outside and often don't take other sun-safety steps.

At the same time, men tend not to have a regular primary-care doctor and are two to three times less likely than women to have regular screenings for cancer, or even do self-exams of their skin and have someone else check their back.