African Americans remain at risk of death from skin cancer and melanoma: Code Switch: NPR

For many people, the dog days of July mean grabbing a popsicle, relaxing outside, and letting the summer sun hit your skin. And for people of color, we often do those things without sunscreen. After all, melanin protects us. right?

It’s not that fast.

This week on Ask Code Switch, we answer questions from New York resident Liz Mitchell. she writes:

“Dear Code Switch,

I’m biracial and my black family doesn’t use sunscreen. If anything, I use oil at the beach. My white mother is always obsessed with sunscreen. She used to think she was fine because she had melanin. But her white grandfather died of skin cancer, and ever since then, she feels like she’s inviting cancer into her body every time she steps outside. Sorry for the harsh content, but I would love to hear other POC’s thoughts and practices regarding skin care and skin cancer.

peace,

Liz”

Hello Liz

I hear you. I also grew up with a black father who laughed at the thought of sunscreen and a white mother who had to reapply it seven times every afternoon. And, like you, I’ve never worried about protecting my skin from the sun for most of my life. “Niggers don’t cut it” was not something I heard often when I was a kid. If anything, it was “black doesn’t burn.”

That idea is incredibly common. In 2006, magazine columnist John McCann said: herald sun The Durham, North Carolina resident talked about how his family grooms themselves before going out. “This goes back to when I was a kid. Mom used to put Vaseline on me,” he wrote. “Despite how hot it is…Black people all over this country will put on lotion before they leave the house. You have to get that ash off…and yet we don’t use sunscreen. .”

Now, there may be some legitimate thinking behind it. According to the American Cancer Society, Melanoma (the most common form of skin cancer) is more than 20 times more common in white people than black people in the United States, and the diagnosis rate in black people is about 0.1 percent. Latinas fall somewhere in between, with approximately 1 in 172 people diagnosed with melanoma during their lifetime.

But these numbers don’t tell the whole story. November 2016 survey Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology They also found that although white people were most likely to develop skin cancer, they also lived the longest after diagnosis. In contrast, blacks had the shortest survival times. In other words, black people with melanoma are more likely to die from it than people from other racial groups.

There are several factors that can contribute to these statistics. For one thing, black people are often diagnosed at later stages of cancer than people from other racial groups. That may be because we often don’t think we’re at risk and are less likely to test ourselves (or go get tested) for suspicious lumps or moles. there is. It may also be because medical professionals make the same assumptions and are less likely to pay attention to signs of skin cancer in darker-skinned patients.

Jacqueline Smith I am a member of Melanoma Research FoundationBoard of Directors. She is also a self-described dark-skinned black woman who has survived two bouts with melanoma.

Smith was first diagnosed during her senior year of college. She noticed a lump growing near her bikini line and she went to the hospital to have it checked out. During her first few visits to the hospital, she says she was told the lump was probably nothing to worry about. But Smith kept going back looking for her answers.

When her doctor finally told her she had stage 3 melanoma, Smith couldn’t believe it. “I’m not a fair-skinned, middle-aged white woman,” she remembers telling her doctor. She grew up with the same misconceptions about her skin cancer as everyone else. That means people like her don’t have to think about skin cancer or protect themselves.

As an advocate for skin cancer prevention, Smith says she often tells her story. But 15 years after her initial diagnosis, she says most people are still shocked to hear that she is a melanoma survivor. This includes doctors.

“And I think that’s unfortunate, because you start to wonder. You know, I was a very vocal person who kept coming back. I was a nuisance to doctors. I didn’t care if it was going to happen or not. And when I asked the doctor, what if someone says, well, it’s not that safe, or rather, “I’ll believe you when I say there’s nothing?” These are the people who end up with a really poor overall prognosis because they just take what they are told by medical professionals. ”

So Smith has some advice for black, brown, and young people who think they’re immune to the risks of the sun: Please apply sunscreen.

Smith said that when you talk about skin cancer, people say, “Oh, just get the mole removed.”

And she told them about her treatment. “I have an 8-inch scar from surgery. They removed all the lymph nodes in my pelvis and groin. I have a large scar around them from radiation therapy. I had to give up two. Many years have passed in my life. I had to inject myself with interferon every week. As a result, I am feeling weaker and my memory is not as sharp as it used to be. I developed lymphedema in my right leg. Just last month, I developed a lymph node. ”

Do you have thoughts/questions/feelings about race? Need advice regarding race in your own life? We want to hear from you! Email CodeSwitch@npr.org or fill out the form below. this shape And please tell me its contents.