Battling Cancer

What’s the Vans Warped Tour got to do with cancer?

First for the uninformed:

You may be familiar with Vans as primarily the maker of those great checkerboard slip ons worn by Sean Penn in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

The company (making skateboarding shoes since 1966) also makes a variety of other footwear and accessories primarily geared to skateboarders, snowboarders, BMX riders and Motocross enthusiasts. Check them out at Vans.com.

The Vans Warped Tour began in 1995 and is a combination multi-stage concert, festival and skateboarding exposition/competition.

This year’s Warped Tour will be hitting 46 cities across the United States and Canada.

(check out the schedule )

One of the great things about the tour is the huge non-profit benefit. This year’s tour teams up with 16 organizations including, Boarding for Cancer and the newest affiliation with Astron Clinica to provide free skin cancer screenings to attendees of the tour. MoleMate skin cancer screening system will be used to raise awareness of skin cancer in youth.

Read the press release here.

More on MoleMate:

MoleMate System helps the practitioner identify skin cancer and make clinical decisions based on technology that evaluates and measures melanin, haemoglobin and collagen in the top 2mm of the skin.

Learn more about this patented technology at the Astron Clinica site.

Skin Cancer Facts From the American Academy of Dermatology:

• Over 1 million new cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed in the United States alone in 2008
• 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer in their life
• Melanoma is the most common type of cancer for young adults 25-29 years of age
• Melanoma is the second most common cancer for young adults 15-29 years of age
• Melanoma is increasing faster in females 15-29 (possibly due to high risk tanning behavior)
• One American dies of melanoma almost every hour
• Melanoma diagnosed in individuals 10-39 is highly curable with a five-year survival rate exceeding 90 percent

So find a concert date near you and get the screening!!

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Sun Smart Campaigns are taking place from Australia to the U.S.

Take a peek at a few videos from all over the world:

• Australia
• Canada
• New Zealand
• Israel
• United States
• United States

Did you know that Australia has the highest incidence of skin cancer in the world? According the Cancer Council of Victoria, over 1,600 Australians die from skin cancer each year.

Summer began in February for this country and the Cancer Council of Australia kicked off summer with marie claire magazine’s launch of the SunSmart campaign together with 17 Aussie designers as part of their 150th issue to raise awareness of sun safety. All profits from the sale go to the Cancer Council. “17 designers created limited edition items like sunnies, hats, beach towels and even Swarovski-studded wedges for Australians to get the message: stay in the shade, slop on some sunscreen, and slap on a hat.”

Back in the U.S., Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and the American Academy of Dermatology are kicking off the Play Sun Smart Campaign to Strike Out Skin Cancer by raising awareness about skin cancer and offer detection and prevention tips for baseball player, team staff and fans.

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States according to the Center for Disease Control, (CDC) who gives risk factors for skin cancer:

• Lighter natural skin color.
• Family history of skin cancer.
• Personal history of skin cancer.
• Exposure to the sun through work and play.
• A history of sunburns early in life.
• Skin that burns, freckles, reddens easily, or becomes painful in the sun.
• Blue or green eyes.
• Blond or red hair.
• Certain types and a large number of moles.

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May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month.

Skin Cancer includes

• Basal Cell Carcinoma
• Squamous Cell Carcinoma
• Melanoma

Last month Battling Cancer covered Melanoma in an exclusive post you can find in the archives.

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Melanoma

A type of cancer that forms in the melanocyte cells, which are the cells that form the melanin or pigment of the skin. Melanoma is less common than other skin cancers, but is the most serious type of skin cancer. Like other skin cancers, it is often curable in the early stages. It can occur anywhere on the skin, but most likely occurs in the trunk of men and the legs of women. The face and neck are also common sites. Melanoma can spread to other parts of the body.

Risk Factors May Include:

• UV light exposure-natural and artificial and a history of severe sunburns
• Moles-excessive number of normal moles (over 50) and large number of atypical moles (dysplastic nevi)
• Fair Skin-occurs more often in people with fair skin, freckles and light hair
• Family History-10% of all people diagnosed have a family history
• Immune Suppression-a weakened immune system due to other factors
• Age-the most common cancer in people younger than 30, but more likely to occur in older populations
• Sex-Men have a higher incidence
• History of Melanoma-people who have had melanoma are at greater risk for a second diagnosis
• Xeroderma Pigmentosum-a rare inherited genetic condition that prevents the skin from repairing

For more information on risk factors see the American Cancer Society site.

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By: Keefe Figgatt

People refer to cancer as “The Big C”. While it may seem as though all forms of the disease fall under one main categorization, there are actually more than 100 ailments that may be considered to be “cancer”. Every type is different, but all are related to diseased cells in the body.

Healthy cells grow, divide and replace themselves on a continual basis. That’s how the body’s tissue is created, and it’s how a healthy body grows, repairs itself and stays in good health. Cancer occurs when some of these cells lose their ability to perform these tasks. The duplication, progress and growth capability of the cells is limited. The cells may divide themselves too rapidly, and may grow without organization. Malignant or benign tumors are formed when the cancerous cells produce too much tissue.

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By Ron Keegan

Learn self-examination of skin cancer, as a way to protect yourself, that is easy and costs you nothing more than a few minutes of your time once every few months.

It’s really a good idea to probe a little deeper into the subject of skin cancer. What you learn may give you the confidence you need to spot, the first signs of skin cancer.

There are five different kinds of skin cancer. All of them are dangerous though some are to be worried about more than others. The most common type of skin cancer is Basal cell carcinoma with over a million Americans developing this cancer each year.

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