Painkillers linked to reduced skin cancer risk

New research suggests that regularly taking common painkillers such as aspirin and ibuprofen could help to reduce the risk of developing a form of skin cancer.

An Australian analysis into nine past studies found that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were effective in decreasing the risk of squamous cell carcinoma by 18%. This kind of cancer is the second most common type of skin cancer in the UK, with the major risk coming from sun exposure and excessive use of tanning beds.

NSAIDs include over-the-counter painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen, as well as prescription medication that Medical Specialists® Pharmacy provide for suitable patients – celecoxib, diclofenac and naproxen.

Previous studies into the drugs have uncovered evidence to show they can be useful in also decreasing the risk of developing other cancers, such as colon cancer.

Health experts have previously suggest that NSAIDs could be beneficial in helping to boost protection against skin cancer, but definitive evidence for the theory has been scarce.
Therefore, researchers involved in the new analysis of nine previous studies assessed usage of NSAIDs against the risk of squamous cell carcinoma.

Reporting their findings in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, the researchers explained that taking any NSAID was associated with an 18% lesser risk of developing the cancer, and taking NSAIDs other than aspirin could lead to a 15% decreased risk.

These painkillers “have potential as part of a skin cancer-prevention strategy,” said review co-author Catherine Olsen, a senior research officer with QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

However, there is still an uncertainty regarding NSAIDs and skin cancer. For example, different people have varying degrees of sun exposure, will be taking different doses of their particular drug, resulting in accuracy of findings being debatable.

Some are of the belief that NSAIDs such as diclofenac could help to prevent skin cancer due to the fact they inhibit an enzyme named COX-2, linked to tumour development. A higher reduced risk was found with people taking NSAIDs that had either pre-cancerous growths or a history of skin cancer, which means the drugs could be considered as a preventative option for certain people in the future.
Olsen and others aren’t quite ready to advise people to start popping NSAIDs though just yet to avert the onset of skin cancer, citing that the drugs have been linked to some risks of their own.

“Don’t rely on aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs to protect your skin,” commented Dr. Joshua Zeichner, director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, who wasn’t involved in the study.

“The best treatment is primary prevention,” he said, advising people to use sunscreen, sun-protective clothing and taking advantage of shade.

Poor lifestyle choices causes a surge in cancer rates

There are fresh concerns that poor choices in lifestyle may be attributed to a large increase in the number of certain cancers following the publication of data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The number of cases of malignant melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, has seen the biggest rise, shooting up by 56% amongst men and 38% for women between the years 2002 and 2011.

Melanoma is relatively rare, but has become more prominent in recent times because of the surge in people using sunbeds. The cancer is caused due to cells beginning to abnormally develop in the skin and health experts believe it is exposure to UV light from natural or artificial sources such as a sunbed could be responsible. It starts within the skin and may spread to organs in the body. A usual sign of this cancer is the change of an existing mole of the sudden appearance of a new one.

Health experts at the ONS believe the rise in melanoma cases could be due to gradual changes in the nation’s fashion choices, with people more skin-revealing clothes in recent years. This together with large amounts of the population sunbathing at every rare chance of sunshine across the country and an increase in the use of sunbeds has put people at risk.

ONS statistics also show that in total, all combined new cases of cancer across England increased by a fifth between 2002 and 2011 – with 274,233 patients being diagnosed with cancer in 2011. From the 274,233, men made up 139,120 of the new diagnoses compared with 135,113 women. Both figures will no doubt be a lot more after additional hospital admissions are included in the totals.
The most prominent cancers in men are still the previous common types; prostate (25.6%), lung (13.8%) and colorectal (13.6%).

Smoking and poor diet are the main factors responsible for a surge in oral cancers, which have increased by 37%. Kidney cancer has also increased by 25% in men and 36% in women.

Both of these cancers are heavily linked to excessive alcohol consumption and tobacco usage. In fact these two factors together are believed to actually account for a staggering three-quarters of all oral cancer cases in Europe.

Nick Ormiston-Smith, statistical information manager at Cancer Research UK, spoke on how the nation’s poor lifestyle choices are being underestimated and are causing huge health problems later in life.

He said: “Forty per cent of cancers can be attributed to lifestyle factors so swapping some bad habits for healthier ones can help reduce the risk of developing the disease. Smoking increases the risk of at least 14 forms of cancer including lung, bowel, pancreatic and mouth. Cutting down on alcohol, keeping to a healthy weight, avoiding sunburn and being more active can also help reduce the risk of many cancers. Leading a healthy life doesn’t guarantee you won’t get cancer but it can stack the odds in your favour.”

After seeing the alarming ONS figures, Ciarán Devane, chief executive at Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “It is startling that the number of new cases of cancer diagnosed has soared by nearly a fifth in the last ten years. However, it is important to note that this overall figure disguises a wide variation across the cancer types. While it is welcome news that the number of new cases of ovarian and stomach cancer rates have decreased, malignant melanoma is up by a huge 66 per cent. Today’s ONS figures also reveal a worrying gender gap. Cancer affects women more in younger age groups, but men are significantly worse affected over the age of 60. The reasons for this are complex and only partially understood. Further research needs to be carried out to understand these differences better. We are warning that the rising numbers of cancer patients poses a huge challenge for the NHS as it will not be able to cope with the surge in demand unless it puts the necessary plans and resources in place now.”

Skin cancer rates hit 200,000 – double previous estimates

Skin cancer could twice as prevalent as previous estimations, as new research shows that cases of basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) – the most common kind of skin cancer –  have soared by an incredible 80% in the last decade. In addition, skin cancer rates are now almost on par with every other type of cancer combined.

Non-melanoma basal cell carcinomas are abnormal, uncontrolled growths that develop in the skin’s basal cells and often appear as painful looking open sores with red patches, pink growths, shiny bumps, or scars. BCCs mainly occur in fairer skinned people.

Although a family history of the cancer is sometimes evident, for two thirds of patients who develop BCC, overexposure to UV light either from the sun or excessive use of sunbeds is usually the main factor behind it. Just in the UK alone, the NHS previously estimated 100,000 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer diagnosed every year, and things could be getting worse according to the new research and cases are actually around the 200,000 mark.

The study, conducted by Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Eastern Cancer Registration Centre in Cambridge, suggests  a massive financial burden being inflicted onto the NHS as it is believed each case costs about £1,000 for treatment – resulting in excess of £200 million being drained from an already tight NHS budget. On the positive side however, success rates for basal cell carcinoma is incredible high and stands at approximately 90%.

For cases of non-melanoma skin cancer such as BCC, surgery is the main treatment undertaken. A surgeon will remove the cancerous tumour and an area of the surrounding healthy tissue to make sure the cancer has been properly removed. Scarring is the main risk with surgery and often skin from a part of your body that is not always visible (i.e. the back) is removed and ‘grafted’ to the affected area. Other treatment options for non-melanoma skin cancer are: cryotherapy, creams, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and a treatment known as photodynamic therapy (PDT) whereby cream is applied to the affected area and a strong light is shone onto it, killing the cancer in the process.

The team from East Anglia analysed data extracted from the eastern registry deduce patterns of skin cancer incidence over an 11-year time period and found that the number of patients requiring surgery for BCC rose by 81%. After extrapolating the findings to the UK population, the team came to the conclusion that around 200,000 patients had 247,000 cases of BCC treated surgically.

“Our study shows that the number of basal cell carcinomas (BCC) in the UK is approximately twice that indicated by government statistics,” said doctors from Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Eastern Cancer Registration Centre, Cambridge. “The effects on population health and on costs to the health services of BCC in the UK should be recognised.

Resources to prevent, diagnose and manage the disease should be prioritised to help control BCC, which now appears to be the commonest malignant disease in the UK. Cancer registries acknowledge that data collection for BCC is imperfect, and consequently data on BCC are excluded from national statistics. Unfortunately, this means that the commonest cancer in the UK is often overlooked by politicians, the public and the media.”

Catherine Thomson, of Cancer Research UK, added: “Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer and we need to find better ways of recording the number of people diagnosed with it. This means they are not routinely reported and the true workload and treatment burden on the NHS is not widely understood. The good news is that generally it’s one of the easiest forms of cancer to treat and it is rarely fatal.”

Sunbed cancer risk could be worse than previously thought

Winter in Britain is not the most ideal time and place to pick up a tan due to the typical dark, gloomy and rain-filled conditions. For those who want to boast a slightly darker shade without having to splash the cash on an expensive holiday, the last resort for many men and women is to use sunbeds or fake tanning products to achieve the bronzed appearance they require.

However, the findings of a new Cancer Research UK funded study could now deter people from using sunbeds as shockingly nine out of every ten sunbeds in England are failing to adhere to health and safety standards, leaving millions at risk of developing potentially-fatal skin cancer (melanoma).

Researchers from the University of Dundee inspected 402 different sunbeds in England between 2010 and 2011 and to their horror found that the levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitted were approximately on average twice as high than recommended limits on the majority of the sunbeds. Only 10% of those inspected were actually in-line with safety limits – 0.3 watts per square metre (Wm2) ultraviolet (UV) radiation limit. This means 90% had an average UV radiation level of around 0.6Wm2.

The researchers took into account the chance of developing skin cancer from sunbeds and contrasted this against the risk a person might have of getting skin cancer from tanning themselves naturally under the baking heat of the Mediterranean sunshine. They discovered that the risk of skin cancer from sunbeds was over double that of spending the same time period in the midday sunshine.

Lead researcher Professor Harry Moseley, consultant medical physicist at University of Dundee, said: “The development of high-power sunlamps, along with clear failures of the sunbed industry to regulate themselves effectively, is putting young people at an even greater risk of skin cancer than we previously thought. We hope that these findings will make people think twice before using sunbeds as you can’t be sure how much radiation you’re exposing yourself to when you try to top up a tan. People need to be encouraged to take better care of their skin; otherwise the cases of malignant melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, will continue to increase.”

However, Gary Lipman, from the Sunbed Association, which represents the companies which manufacture and operate tanning station, hit back at the study and stressed that the information compiled was several years out-of-date. He said: “The findings of this study are two years out of date. If the study was undertaken today, the results would be dramatically different. Sunbeds have been required to have a maximum UV output since 2009 and the Sunbed Association has been working with its members, non-members and the enforcement departments within local authorities since that time to inform about the change in UV emission levels and advise how to become compliant and ensure compliance.”

Melanoma is relatively rare, but has become more prominent in recent times because of the surge in people using sunbeds. The cancer is caused due to cells beginning to abnormally develop in the skin and health experts believe it is exposure to UV light from natural or artificial sources such as a sunbed could be responsible. It starts within the skin and may spread to organs in the body. A typical sign of this cancer is the alteration of an existing mole of the sudden appearance of a new one.

Medical Specialists Pharmacy advises you to see your GP as soon as possible if you notice any changes on your skin that do not clear within a month. If possible, document any potential changes in this time by taking photographs. Other alterations could occur on the skin that may not be cancer – especially within older people, however it is still advised that you visit your doctor so he can rule out cancer or any other serious conditions. They may refer you to a skin specialist or a specialist plastic surgeon if they suspect skin cancer or are unable to give an official diagnosis.

One in two men will develop cancer by 2027

As the number of men developing cancer is on the rise, UK health experts believe that by the year 2027 men will have a one in two chance of developing the disease.

The increase will change from the current 44 in 100 chance, to a 50 in 100 chance and is mostly because of the fact that people are generally living longer according to Cancer Research UK who teamed with Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine at Queen Mary, University of London to offer forecasts for the future.

Projections were formulated after studying previous information available about cancer incidence and mortality rates, in addition to projected population data for the UK.

In 2010 it was calculated that 324,000 people were diagnosed with cancer in the UK and this is expected to hit 416,000 by 2027. For men, the total is expected to reach over 221,000, up from 164,000 back in 2010.

The projections estimated that more than 194,000 women will be diagnosed with cancer in 2027, compared with 160,000 in 2010. Therefore, the predictions seem to be a similar pattern for women compared to men, with a lifetime risk which will increase from 40 to 44 out of 100 according to the researchers.

Cancer Research UK’s chief executive Harpal Kumar says that ‘it’s only through research that we will be able to beat cancer’, further adding: “We need to do more work to understand what drives cancer and how we can prevent it, as well as developing new treatments to reduce the number of people who will die from it.”

As mentioned previously, age is predicted to be the biggest risk factor for the disease and it is thought that the biggest increases in new cases will be seen in cancers of the bowel and prostate, as well as melanoma – the most dangerous type of skin cancer and most often brought on because of ultraviolet light (radiation) from the sun or excessive sunbed use.

Dr Kumar says the figures offer an outlook into the future and what challenges health authorities may face. One such challenge is developing an efficient and effective method of screening men for prostate cancer.

Not every cancer within the prostate gland is aggressive or potentially life-threatening and some can live with this all their lives and experience no health problems. Unfortunately though, doctors do not have a reliable testing procedure in their possession that can identify ‘safe’ tumours that are ok to leave alone.

Alan White, chairman of the Men’s Health Forum and professor of men’s health at Leeds Metropolitan University, argues that another problem will be persuading men to attend screenings for prostate cancer should an effective test ever be developed. Prof White says that even though men have a higher chance of developing bowel cancer than women, a lot less men than women actually bother to go for screening for this cancer.

Prof White says: “It’s desperately important that men take up any opportunity to go for cancer screening that they can. Some men are fatalistic about cancer and screening. But screening does make a difference. If cancers are spotted earlier they are easier to treat. We also know that men who discuss screening with their doctor or their partner are more likely to take up the offer.”

German researchers claim heavy drinking can kill you sooner than smoking

According to experts in Germany, heavy boozing can send you to an early grave and ‘kills you quicker than smoking’ they say. In particularly, women who drink heavily are at a much greater risk of a premature death in comparison to men.

Academics in Germany recently published their study and the subsequent startling findings in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Professor Ulrich John, of University Medicine Greifswald and his team analysed a completely random selection of over 4,000 people between the ages of 18 and 64. From this total, 153 were identified as being alcohol dependent (AD). Of the 153, 149 were closely tracked for 14 years (119 men, 30 women).

This latest study has caused such a buzz mainly because it has assessed the impact of alcohol dependency over a longer period of time, whereas past studies have been mainly established via clinical trials to find risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

Professor Ulrich John explained, “Clinical data have revealed a higher proportion of individuals who have died than among the general population of the same age. Gender-specific data are rare, even among clinical samples. Furthermore, these studies have two main limitations. First, we know that only a minority of AD individuals receive treatment of this disorder, but we lack knowledge about how this selection occurs. Second, we have no evidence about potential effects of specialised alcoholism treatment on mortality among people who had been diagnosed as AD. We would like to know whether treatment might enhance survival time. For ethical reasons, no controlled trials are possible. Thus, longitudinal descriptive data as in this study are helpful.”

After the 14 years, there were some shocking findings for Professor John. He continued, “First, we found that annualised death rates were 4.6-fold higher for females and 1.9-fold higher for males compared to the age- and gender-specific general population. Second, we found that the mean age at death was 60 for females and 58 for males, both of which are about 20 years lower than the mean age at death among the general population. None of those deceased had reached the age of life expectancy. Third, having participated in inpatient AD treatment was not related with longer survival compared to not having taken part in treatment, meaning that it did not seem to have a sufficient protective effect against premature death.”

Overall the findings would seem to heavily suggest that alcohol abuse can result in more early fatalities compared to a lifetime of smoking. Professor John concluded, “Smoking-related death cases are more due to cancers which seem to occur later in life than many alcohol-attributable causes of death do. Furthermore, drinking can also contribute to other risky behaviours such as smoking, becoming overweight, and obesity. Alcohol is a dangerous product and should be consumed only within guidelines.”

If you think you have an alcohol dependency problem, Medical Specialists Pharmacy believes you should see your own GP as soon as possible. A dependency on alcohol is risked if you are regularly drinking large quantities of alcohol and find it difficult to even go through a single day without feeling like you need a drink. With many people, a high tolerance to alcohol may develop and larger amounts of alcohol than previous are needed before any effects are actually felt. By visiting your GP, they can warn you of the health dangers that your drinking is having and the resulting damage to your body that will occur if you continue down that particular path. In addition, they can offer treatment programs and get you involved in support groups or counselling. It has been proven on many occasions that alcoholics can cut down or stop drinking altogether by discussing their problems, and from the additional support of family and friends.

However, alcohol is not the only subject in this story. Medical Specialists Pharmacy is slightly concerned that people could misinterpret the findings from this particular study and now underestimate the dangers of smoking, wrongly believing it is safe to smoke. Both heavy smoking and alcohol intake are incredibly damaging to a person’s health and ideally both should be limited to an absolute minimum, or stopped altogether. In fact already this year we have discussed how smoking can contribute towards the bone disease osteoporosis, skin cancer and asthma. In addition we have recently looked in-depth at the huge hidden health risks associated with secondhand and thirdhand smoking.

Prevent the risk of developing these conditions today though with the help of Medical Specialists.  Champix is a prescription medication that can be obtained following an online consultation with one of our GMC registered doctors. It works out from as little as just £75.00 per pack, an incredibly small price when it comes to your long-term health. Champix mimics the effect of nicotine on the body, reducing the urge to smoke and relieving withdrawal symptoms. It can also decrease the enjoyment you experience of smoking if you are still smoking whilst on the treatment.

Women heavily using fake tan risk fertility complications and birth defects

In a country such as England where the usual weather is dark, gloomy and rain-filled, the chance of developing a natural tan is rather slim. It is now a common occurrence for many men and women to resort to using sunbeds and fake tanning products to achieve the bronzed appearance that so many desire.

The dangers of heavy sunbed use have been widely reported in the news in recent years, with excessive exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation being responsible for an increasing number of young adults being diagnosed with both malignant melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.

Fake tanning products have long been viewed as the safe option for women to use to avoid the risks with sunbeds; however these products may not be as completely safe as first thought.

In fact, the chemicals used in fake tan are so hazardous that they are now being linked to fertility problems and also increasing the chance of women giving birth to a baby with birth defects.

Just one of the types of these chemicals is carcinogens including formaldehyde and nitrosamines. A carcinogen is a substance or agent that is directly responsible for inducing cancer within humans and animals. They are particularly rife in cigarettes which could partly explain why tobacco smoke has been shown to also cause birth defects if the baby’s mother smokes during pregnancy, with a cleft lip or skull abnormality just two problems that could occur.

As well as carcinogens, it is believed that fake tan comprises of other harmful chemicals and skin irritants that may cause allergies to worsen, which is not good news for the millions of hay fever sufferers in the UK who are already suffering with the unexpected warm weather this week.

Elizabeth Salter-Green from UK charity the Chem Trust, says, “Many of the chemicals in fake tan are toxic to reproduction and can harm a foetus.” Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the European Environment Agency, further spoke about the dangers of fake tan and said they could be a contributing factor responsible for the surge in cases of cancers, diabetes, obesity and falling fertility.

The primary ingredient in the fake tanning products is the chemical compound dihydroxyacetone. The chemical works with the skin’s amino acids to transform the colour to brown. However, once sprayed there is a risk of the person inhaling the substance and it going straight into the bloodstream.

Scientists in the US now claim that this could result in DNA damage, tumours, and the aggravation of numerous lung conditions such as emphysema and asthma. Dr Lynn Goldman dean of the School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University, in Washington DC, says, “What we’re concerned about is not so much that reaction that creates the tanning, but reactions that may occur deeper down with living cells that might then change DNA, causing a mutation, and what the possible impacts of that might be.”

Studies find smoking is connected to both skin cancer and cognitive decline

Two English studies have been published this month that further highlight the health dangers of smoking. Only a few weeks ago, Medical Specialists Pharmacy touched upon just some of the many negative impacts that smoking has on the body, and how the myth of being ‘too old’ to quit, is not true. Our arguments about how detrimental cigarettes are to a person’s health have been backed-up by the two new studies to emerge.

The first was conducted by experts at the University College London and has been made available in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. The authors analysed data extracted from the ‘Whitehall II study’, which was an on-going process that studied cigarette smoking habits and effects in 7,236 British Civil Service employees and first started in 1985, running through until 2009. Of the subjects in the study, 5,099 were male and 2,137 were female.

It was determined that middle-aged men who smoke are more likely to see deterioration in functions related to cognition (i.e. memory, perception, problem-solving, attention, etc.). A vast decline was especially shown when comparing male smokers to males who had never lit up. Strangely, the difference in cognitive function in women was shown to be minimal when comparing female smokers to females who had never previously smoked.

Lead author Dr. Severine Sabia, had this to say on the results, “There is increasing evidence that smoking is a risk factor for dementia. However, its impact on cognitive decline and particularly on cognitive decline in early old age remained unclear.” Dr. Sabia further went to on to explain the difference in results for the sexes and said, “Several reasons could explain the fact that we did not find an effect in women. First, our sample was composed of less women than men, reducing the probability to find an association in women. Furthermore, it is possible that smoking behaviour is differently associated with other behaviour in men and women.”

The second study that demonstrates the bad effects of smoking emanates from experts at the University of Nottingham and was published one week ago in the Archives of Dermatology. This study has linked the smoking of cigarettes and other tobacco as leading to a heightened chance of having cutaneous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Squamous cell skin cancer can show anywhere on the body, but is usually evident on areas exposed to the sun such as the face, ears, neck, hands, or arms. SCCs will often appear red and scaly in appearance and is currently the second most common skin cancer with an incidence rate of approximately 10,000 per year in England and Wales, particularly higher in Caucasians. If detected at an early age, cases are nearly always treatable and the patient can make a full recovery. However if the symptoms are ignored for an extended period, this can leave the person disfigured and may even prove fatal.

Lead author of this latest analysis on smoking, was Dr. Jo Leonardi-Bee. She and colleagues reviewed 25 separate studies and came to the conclusion that smoking is ‘significantly associated’ with cutaneous SCC, but that smoking does not increase risk for basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The authors are not surprised at this finding though as nonmelanoma skin cancers are heterogenous, with differing causes and prognoses. The authors explain why BCCs are not linked to smoking, “For example, BCC is slow growing and locally invasive, in contrast to cutaneous SCC, which is generally more aggressive and has the potential to metastasize. Therefore, it would be expected that the effect of smoking on the risk of the diseases would also vary considerably between the subtypes of nonmelanoma skin cancer.”

They add that their findings are based on data across studies from 11 countries and 4 continents, so should be taken seriously to a certain degree. The authors are not fully certain as to how smoking contributes to cutaneous SCC, but suggest it could be down to a decreased immune function or the carcinogenic properties within tobacco.