As Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, Arctic Radio spoke to the Save Your Skin Foundation about the importance of being sun-smart this summer.

 

Organization founder Kathleen Barnard, who is a skin cancer survivor, says one third of all new cancer cases in the country are skin cancers and is increasingly being found in younger people.

 

“Melanoma is the seventh most common cancer in Canada and the fourth most common in young people between the ages of fifteen and twenty nine. When I was diagnosed, I was forty seven and my uncle said “Boy, you are really young for this type of cancer.” Yet, now it figures in that the demographic of people that are coming to us are under the age of thirty five, which is frightening.”

 

Barnard says the major risk factor for melanoma and other skin cancers are UV rays, which damages the DNA of skin cells.

 

She recommends using sunscreen, limiting time in the sun, checking UV Index forecasts, and avoiding tanning equipment.

 

For more information, listen to the two-part interview today and tomorrow at 12:40 and 5:10 on Thompson Today.