Skin cancer rates among young people in Sweden have fallen for the first time after rising for decades, making the Scandinavian country the first in Europe to record such progress, according to a study published Monday.
Hildur Hilgadottir, lead author of the study whose results were published in the medical journal “Jamma Dermatology” and assistant professor of oncology at the Karolinska Institute, explained to Agence France-Presse that a decrease in the risk of skin cancer was recorded in people under the age of 50.
She suggested that this decrease was largely due to increased awareness of the need to protect the skin from the sun and reduced use of tanning booths.
She noted that “a clear and significant reversal of the trend occurred around 2015.”
She explained that “an increase (in skin cancer) of an average of 5% per year was recorded before 2015 among people in their thirties. But since 2015, this rate has decreased by an average of 5% per year.”
She added that the incidence of skin cancer “increases by at least 5% annually” among those over 50, “and the increase accelerates with age.”
Although the researchers did not analyze the reasons for the decline in skin cancer rates, they believed that several major factors played a role.
Mobile phones and computers
In addition to improved protection, the reduction was contributed to by Sweden setting the minimum age for use of tanning booths at 18 in 2018, as well as a much earlier decline in the number of tanning booths.
Helgadottir also suggested that mobile phones and computers may have also led to a decline in infections, as young people spend more time indoors and are therefore less exposed to sunlight. But this trend is more recent and “has not yet had a major impact.”
Regarding deaths from skin cancer, the decline was observed up to the age of 59 years but not for those over the age of 60 years.
The decline in mortality among younger age groups is attributed to a decline in the incidence of skin cancer and the adoption of new anticancer drugs that have improved the prognosis of the disease.
The researcher said that the death rate among the elderly is not decreasing because the incidence of the disease is still very high.