COPING WITH… Skin cancer

Look for changes and report them quickly, says Dr Melanie Wynne-Jones

- Dr Melanie Wynne-Jones

Skin cancers have more than doubled in the UK since the 1990s and if you get one, you’re more likely to develop another. They can develop in squamous cells and basal cells in the epidermis (top layer), in melanocytes, which produce pigment and darken in response to ultra-violet (UV) light from the sun, and rarely, in other skin cells.

Sunlight and skin cancer

Skin cancers are strongly related to UV light damage, which can change cells’ DNA. They usually affect areas exposed to the sun, such as the face, scalp and limbs.

They’re more common with age and in people prone to sunburn (fair or red hair, pale skin and freckles), who have been sunburnt (especially in childhood), use sunbeds, have had UV/light treatment for skin problems, have lowered immunity, or who spend a lot of time in the sun.