New research has revealed Queensland’s south-west and southern inland has the state’s highest proportion of melanoma cases.
Cancer Council Queensland said an area from Toowoomba and Dalby, west to Charleville was the state’s melanoma hotspot.
Statistics show that region has about 76 cases of melanoma diagnosed per 100,000 people each year.
Cancer Council Queensland executive manager Katie Clift says it is unclear why that region fared the worst.
“We would tend to think that more coastal areas or areas that have more of an outdoor lifestyle where they’re close to beaches and rivers and parks may have higher rates of melanoma,” she said.
The finding was doubly concerning because rural and regional people were already more likely to die from any form of cancer compared with people in cities.
“What we have at the moment is about 250 Queenslanders who live in rural and remote areas who die from cancer each year who would survive if they lived in urban areas,” Ms Clift said.
“It’s really important for people no matter where they live in Queensland particularly to be sun smart.
“If you’re in a rural or remote area, make sure you have access to these health practitioners, you get your skin checked regularly, and the message for all Queenslanders is to know your own skin.”
Melanoma dubbed the Queensland disease
Authorities have often called skin cancer a Queensland disease, because the state registers the highest rates of skin cancer in the world.
Cancer Council Queensland says about 3,000 melanoma and 133,000 non-melanoma skin cancers are diagnosed across the state each year.
Melanoma has been most commonly linked to sun exposure, but cancer treatment figures have shown a 93 per cent survival rate after five years.
Kylee Sanson, 35, was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma in the centre of her back when she was just 21 and pregnant with her first child.
She says it was detected when she visited her GP on an unrelated issue.
“It was an incredible shock to be so young,” she said.
“At the time we thought it was an older person’s infliction but no – not the case.”
Her grandfather recently died from melanoma, and while she has suspected a genetic link to her cancer, she firmly blames sun exposure.
“I grew up in a boat, on Moreton Island – there are just numerous photos of me running around … as a little four, five, six-year-old with bikini bottoms on and not much else,” she said.
“The scariest part was having to tell my family actually, and particularly mum and dad, at the time.
“They blamed themselves a lot I think and they still carry some of that with them, which is an ongoing impact I think of melanoma.
“The key messages really for everyone are get yourself checked, make it a regular annual appointment, and just the basics – slip, slop, slap, seek, slide.”
The Sunshine Coast is the second highest melanoma hot spot, with 71 cases per 100,000 people.
Sunshine Coast Deputy Mayor Chris Thompson being treated
Sunshine Coast Deputy Mayor Chris Thompson, 47, has been receiving treatment for dry scaly spots that have begun appearing on his face.
“I think it’s growing up in the Queensland sun, predominantly when we were at school and playing as young children there was no sun safety warnings and there was very little sunscreen available,” he said.
On the recommendation of a dermatologist, he has been undergoing treatment to peel off the affected skin and hopefully destroy pre-cancer cells.
“It makes you look like you’ve got a lot of blisters on your face or a really bad rash,” he said.
Councillor Thompson says his skin problem has prompted him to reflect on sun safety and the need to overcome complacency.
“I’m just really pleased with young children in particular,” he said.
“They’re in primary school and even at the local kindies they don’t go outside without putting sunscreen on or putting a hat on.”