Skin cancer 'linked to package holiday boom'
BBC News 6 April 2015
A boom in cheap package holidays in the 1960s is partly behind the "worrying rise" in skin cancers in pensioners, Cancer Research UK suggests.
The charity says that although all ages are at risk, many older people would not have been aware of how to protect themselves four decades ago.
Figures show that 5,700 over-65s are diagnosed with the condition each year, compared to just 600 in the mid-1970s.
The condition can often be prevented by covering up and avoiding sunburn.
I don't think there was much understanding at the time about the impact that too much sun can have Sue Deans
Around 13,300 people are diagnosed with malignant melanoma - the most serious form of skin cancer - each year in the UK. And 2,100 lives are lost to the disease annually.
Numbers are increasing across all age groups but the steepest rise is seen in over-65s.
The charity said all ages are benefitting from public health messages explaining the dangers of holiday sun.
Sue Deans, a 69-year old mother of three, was first diagnosed with skin cancer in 2000 and again in 2007.
She said: "I was part of the generation when package holidays became affordable and you could go abroad nearly every year.
"I don't think there was much understanding at the time about the impact that too much sun can have on your risk of getting skin cancer.
"And I loved the sun but suffered quite a bit of sunburn over the years."
She spotted signs of her cancer early on and has had successful surgery, but remains vigilant for anything that might need further checks.
Professor Richard Marais of Cancer Research UK (CRUK), said: "It is worrying to see melanoma rates increasing at such a fast pace, and across all age groups.
"It is important people keep an eye on their skin and seek medical opinion if they see any changes to their moles or even to normal areas of skin.
"Melanoma is often detected on men's backs and women's legs but can appear on any part of the body."
Research suggests that getting sunburnt just once every two years can increase the odds of developing malignant melanoma.
Dr Julie Sharp, head of health information at CRUK, said: "You can burn at home just as easily as you can on holiday, so remember to spend time in the shade, wear a T-shirt and a hat to protect your skin and regularly apply sunscreen that is at least factor 15 and has four stars."
Johnathon Major, from the British Association of Dermatologists, said: "The increasing incidence of skin cancer within the UK is alarming.
"As people are living longer, more people are reaching an age where they are at a higher risk.
"Interest in package holidays and in fashion tanning are among the reasons that more people are developing skin cancer.
"But it's crucial to remember that you don't have to go on holiday or use a sun bed to heighten your risk. Skin cancers can develop as a result of both short-term and long-term overexposure to the sun's rays within the UK."
Personal cancer vaccine research 'exciting' say experts
BBC News website 3 April 2015
Tailor-made cancer vaccines that target unique genetic errors in a patient's tumour have been developed in the US. Safety tests on three people, published in the journal Science, showed the immune system could be trained to fight skin cancers.
The American team say the early results mark a "significant step" towards personalised cancer vaccines.
The charity Cancer Research UK called the tests an "exciting but very early-stage trial".
UV light can transform healthy skin cells into deadly melanomas by damaging the DNA.
The tumours are a genetic mess, containing hundreds of random mutations that are different in every patient.
Neoantigens
The mutations can change the proteins that stick out from the surface of cells and act like identifying flags.
The team, mainly based in St Louis and Oklahoma City, analysed the genetic mutations to predict the new and unique flags that would be flown by the cancer cells.
A computer algorithm then analysed the new flags, known as neoantigens, to decide which would be the best targets for a vaccine.
Melanomas can be removed surgically if caught early enough Personalised vaccines were given to three patients with advanced tumours in 2013. All had already been treated with another therapy - ipilimumab.
One was in remission and has stayed cancer-free; another still has stable tumours; and the third patient's tumour shrank in the months after the vaccine before returning to its original size and remaining stable.
The team are, at this stage, testing just the safety of the vaccine and whether it provokes an immune response.
They say it was successful on both counts.
Hurdles
One of the researchers, Dr Gerald Linette, said: "Our team is very encouraged by the quality of the immune response directed against the melanoma neoantigens in all three patients.
"Our results are preliminary, but we think the vaccines have therapeutic potential."
His colleague, Dr Beatriz Carreno, added: "These findings represent a significant step toward more personalised immunotherapies."
The personalised vaccine approach has a number of hurdles to clear.
For a start, proper clinical trials are needed to prove that the immune boost actually makes a difference to controlling the tumour.
There are also questions about cost and the time it takes - currently three months - to develop each person's vaccine.
However, if the approach proves successful it could be useful in other highly mutated cancers such as those found in the lung.
'Promising'
They may also have a role in breast and ovarian cancers in women with BRCA mutations, such as the Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie, which also tend to be very mutated.
Dr Alan Worsley, of Cancer Research UK, said: "This exciting but very early-stage trial shows that it may be possible to create vaccines that are tailored to the specific genetic mistakes in a patient's cancer.
"At the moment it's not clear how effective this immunotherapy would be at killing cancer cells in the body and improving survival, but this promising study sets the stage for creating vaccines that are designed to target each patient's individual tumour in the future."
Prof Caroline Springer, who works on new drugs for melanoma at the Institute for Cancer Research, told the BBC News website: "I think it's very interesting.
"It's a very positive results and it's good that it's safe, but it's quite early days.
"Ipilimumab can have long-lasting effects on its own. The vaccine has mounted an immune response but it is difficult to tell if that amounts to an anti-tumour response if it is already responding to ipilimumab."