SPF Really Works: Skin Cancer Rates Drop for Younger Generations

For the first time in its history, Sweden is seeing a decline in skin cancer risk among its population under the age of 50, and it’s the first European country to report such a trend.

“We can see a trend break in young adults around 2015 where the incidence curves are falling,” says first author Hildur Helgadottir, senior consultant and associate professor of oncology at the Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet. “The first national ‘Sun Safe’ campaign in the 1990s specifically highlighted the importance of protecting children. About 20 years later, we believe that this has led to a reduction in the incidence of the disease in younger adults.”

To come to these conclusions, researchers have analyzed data from the Swedish Melanoma Registry, following melanoma incidence and mortality for different age groups over time. The mortality rate for people up to 59 is also declining due to a reduction in the incidence of the disease and the introduction of new oncological drugs that are improving the prognosis for the disease. The risk of melanoma has decreased due to four main factors. The first is the increase in awareness of sun protection. There has also been a drastic decrease in access to sunbeds. Mobile phones and computers keep children and young people indoors, away from sunlight. And finally, immigrants, as individuals with darker pigmentation, tolerate the sun better. It remains essential to continue to emphasize the importance of sun protection so the reduction in melanoma among younger people is sustained and the incidence among older people decreases as well.