WASHINGTON — The nation’s top doctor called on Tuesday for immediate action to reduce the rate of skin cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the country and one that is often preventable.
Americans need to do more to reduce their exposure to the harmful rays of the sun and tanning beds, Dr. Boris D. Lushniak, the acting surgeon general, said in a report.
Nearly five million Americans are treated for skin cancer every year, at an average annual cost of $8.1 billion, according to the report. Over the last three decades, the number of people with skin cancer has grown higher than that of all other cancers combined, according to the report.
The report was released just two months after the Food and Drug Administration said it would require manufacturers to put black-box warnings, the agency’s sternest label, on tanning beds, cautioning against their use by anyone under the age of 18. Only a handful of states ban minors from using tanning beds.
The report cited estimates that tanning-bed use contributes to several hundred thousand cases of skin cancer, including 6,000 cases of melanoma, every year. Nearly a third of white women ages 16 to 25 use an indoor tanning bed each year, according to the report.
The Indoor Tanning Association, an industry group, disputed some of the report’s findings. “In spite of what the public has been led to believe, there is no data to link moderate nonburning exposure to ultraviolet light and melanoma skin cancer,” the association said in a statement.
The group said there was “no consensus” among researchers on a link between melanoma and ultraviolet light exposure, either, from the sun or from a tanning bed. “Proponents of sun avoidance always exaggerate the risks of exposure to ultraviolet light in order to get the attention of the public, the media and the government,” the association said.
