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Skin-Cancer Risk Told for Blacks in Study: Melanoma Diagnosis Often Made Too Late

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Miriah Meyer, Chicago Tribune

Jun. 20--African-Americans are three times more likely than Caucasians to be diagnosed with skin cancer when it is already in an advanced and possibly fatal stage, according to a report released Monday.

Researchers at the University of Miami pointed to a lack of public awareness about the risks of skin cancer for African-Americans as well as Hispanics, who are nearly two times more likely than Caucasians to have a late-stage diagnosis. The research focused on melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Even though minority groups are at relatively low risk to develop melanoma in the first place, when they do get the disease it is more likely to be fatal, the study said. Diagnosis in the later stages of melanoma decreases the survival rate from 98 percent to 16 percent, the study said.

Education about the risks from too much sun has been targeted mainly at people with light skin, who have the least natural protection against the effects of the sun, said Dr. Robert Kirsner, who headed the research team. That focus has helped improve survival rates among Caucasians since the 1970s, but minority groups have not experienced similar improvement, he said.

Kirsner said data suggests that blacks and Hispanics don't get screened enough for the disease, and even their doctors often don't understand the risks.

"It appears that there's a need for a broadening of the public health message about sun exposure and skin-cancer screening of non-white populations," Kirsner said.

One Chicago dermatologist said that while she's seeing more black patients come in to be checked, those patients diagnosed with melanoma are in the advanced stages of the disease.

Dr. Vesna Petronic-Rosic, a dermatologist at the University of Chicago School of Medicine, said she also would like to see public health ads targeting minorities.

"One way to increase [minorities'] awareness is to start putting their faces in the pictures, because that's what people remember," she said.

The study, published in the June edition of the Archives of Dermatology, looked at 1,700 reported cases of melanoma in the Miami-Dade County area over a five-year period. About 27 percent of the patients were Hispanic, and only 2 percent were black.

While Miami has different demographics from Chicago, Petronic-Rosic said the results apply to the patient population she sees. Of the 50 to 60 cases of melanoma she has diagnosed in Chicago-area residents in the last three years, only three were black patients--but all three were late-stage diagnoses.

The Miami researchers said other factors may have contributed to the problem, including poverty and lack of health insurance.

To help increase public awareness about skin cancers, the Chicago Dermatological Society will offer free a skin-cancer screening clinic July 15 at North Avenue Beach between the boathouse and parking lot. Local dermatologists will be on hand from noon to 5 p.m.

"The message of the clinic is that early detection saves lives and that self-examinations are crucial," said Dr. Marjorie Rosenbaum, a member of clinic's organizing committee.

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and is estimated to kill nearly 8,000 Americans a year, according to the American Cancer Society. The danger of melanoma, which affects the pigment-producing cells in the skin, stems from the cancer's ability to metastasize, or spread to other parts of the body.

mmeyer@tribune.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Tribune

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Chicago Tribune

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