Skin cancer rate is increasing faster and faster

Health insurance report: Malignant skin tumors continue to increase dramatically

05/02/2014

On Monday, the World Health Organization had just released the current World Cancer Report, which among other things, predicts a general, large increase in cancer worldwide. Now, the medical report 2014 of Barmer GEK shows a similar development in the spread of skin cancer in Germany.

According to projections of the health insurance company, the number of white skin cancers (basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma) increased by 79 percent between 2005 and 2012. At the malignant black skin cancer, the so-called „malignant melanoma“, In 2012, around 318,000 people suffered, an increase of 60 percent compared to 2005. This was the result of an evaluation published by Barmer GEK together with the Institute for Applied Quality Assurance and Research in Health Care (Aqua) on Tuesday. Nationwide, the data was evaluated by more than eight million insured persons. That's more than 10 percent of the total population and a meaningful analysis.

Skin cancers are underestimated
„Skin cancer is one of the underestimated cancers in Germany, "said Rolf-Ulrich Schlenker, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Barmer-GEK.More than 200,000 new cases are registered each year in this country and it is the most common type of tumor in humans.A reason why the white skin cancer in the world Cancer Report 2014 is due to the fact that it causes relatively rare deaths, although these tumors grow invasively, but hardly scatter in the body.

According to Barmer GEK, they are not found in the German Cancer Registry due to their low death rate. The situation is different with black skin cancer, which causes dangerous metastases early on and therefore leads to relatively many deaths. According to the Federal Statistical Office, in 2012 2875 people died of malignant melanoma.

UV radiation is a key reason for the increase in skin cancer
Above all, UV radiation plays a decisive role in the development of skin cancer. The travel behavior of the Germans has changed in recent decades to the extent that holiday destinations have been relocated more and more in places where a more intense sunshine prevails. Added to this is the still frequent use of solariums, although the dangers are well known. "The skin does not forget anything," says Rudolf Stadler, former president of the German Dermatological Society. "We see more and more younger women suffering from skin cancer."

Aging of the population
Not only among the young population is an increase observed. More and more older men are increasingly developing tumors of the skin, but with them the white skin cancer is more in the foreground. This often proliferates in the face and leads in the advanced stage to destruction of the surrounding tissue. An operation is then usually only difficult to perform. Black skin cancer also occurs in older men rather than women in older men. Overall, it can be said that the number of diagnoses of skin cancer is increasing due to the increasing aging of society.
Disturbed immune systems as another reason for the increase in immunosuppression. The so-called immunosuppression, colloquially a disturbed immune system, is another crucial factor for the increase of skin tumors. More and more people are suppressing immunological processes to fight off diseases.

People who have an autoimmune disease or have to swallow medication due to a chronic illness or after a transplant are much more susceptible to mutations following exposure to light. "After five years of immunosuppression almost half of those affected develop skin cancer," says Stadler.

Every two years for early detection
Since July 1, 2008, the health insurance companies pay a skin cancer screening every two years for all insured persons from the age of 35. According to Barmer GEK's analyzes, the introduction of the studies between 2007 and 2008 led to an above-average increase in the diagnoses of white skin cancer and malignant melanoma.

However, the evaluations also showed that only just under one third of the insured (31 percent) take part in the screening. After all, 38 percent of those insured in Germany have already made skin cancer screening, such as
a 2013 Forsa survey.

The fatal "black skin cancer" usually develops as a malignant neoplasm of pigment-forming cells in the skin. He apparently uses the effect of ultraviolet light, the UV radiation suppressed, inter alia, the immune system, so that cancer can grow undisturbed. In men, the risk of disease increases with age, while women get skin cancer at an early age.

Good survival rate
The good news is that the survival rate is very high compared to other cancers. Surviving over 90 percent of those diagnosed on time diagnoses the first ten years, explains Stadler, who heads the Department of Dermatology at Johannes-Wesling-Klinikum in Minden. In Germany, insured persons can benefit both dermatologists and family physicians with screening tests. (Fr)