HEALTHY LIVING


But experts caution sun protection still crucial for preventing this deadly skin cancer. ::


BY CHRIS ILIADES, M.D. A


n international team of cancer researchers is testing a new mRNA vaccine to treat advanced


melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer. COVID-19 vaccines built with the messenger RNA technology were lifesavers during the pandemic. They help your body’s immune system fi nd and fi ght viruses. In the melanoma cancer study,


patients with advanced melanoma had a 44% reduced risk of recurrence or death when given the mRNA vaccine along with an approved immunotherapy drug, as compared to patients taking only the drug. The research team says this


shows how cancer immunotherapy can be made even more eff ective by teaching a patient’s immune system to recognize and attack their own cancer.


ABOUT MELANOMA It is estimated that nearly 100,000 Americans will be diagnosed with melanoma this year. For about 8,000 people, the disease will be fatal. “Melanoma is now the most


common cancer in people ages 25 to 29,” says Adam Sutton, M.D.,


80 NEWSMAX MAXLIFE | AUGUST 2023


assistant professor of dermatology and director of Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery at University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. “Extreme sun exposure is the


main modifi able risk factor, and most people get that exposure before age 25, when they spend more time outside and less time indoors at work.” For most people, melanoma is


preventable and treatable. The key is knowing how to spot it early. The cure rate for a superfi cial melanoma that has not yet spread deeply into the skin is close to 100%. “The risk of developing a fi rst melanoma is between 2%-3% over your lifetime, closer to 3% for people with fair complexions,” says Sutton. “However, after having one melanoma, even one that has been completely removed, the risk of developing another primary melanoma somewhere else goes up to 10%.”


ARE YOU AT RISK? “The main risk factor for melanoma is intense sun exposure in people with a light complexion,” explains Sutton. “However, some melanomas are


not caused by sun exposure. These melanomas are less common and are caused by genetic changes and


spontaneous mutations. They can form on areas that don’t get sun, like the bottom of your foot or under a fi ngernail. “Other risk factors are a family


history of melanoma, or being born with or developing many moles. People with more than 50 moles have a four times higher risk for the development of melanoma.”


REDUCE RISK Avoid extreme sun. Most melanomas occur when ultraviolet rays from the sun damage cells in the skin called melanocytes. Melanomas can start in a


preexisting mole, but 70% of melanomas appear as a new mole, so protect all your skin from the sun, not just skin with moles. For guidelines on how to best


protect yourself from the damaging rays of the sun, visit the website of the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) at aad.org/ public. Search “sun protection.” “Don’t assume if you live in a


state that keeps you inside during the winter you can’t get enough sun exposure to worry about skin cancer. The intensity of the exposure is just as important as the amount of exposure,” warns Sutton. In fact, when a child or adolescent


gets a single peeling sunburn, it may double the risk of developing melanoma as an adult.


KLUBLU/SHUTTERSTOCK


New Treatment Advances Curing


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