Millennials ignorant about melanoma

Melanoma Foundation launches awareness campaign Discover Your Spot

Millennials’ knowledge of melanoma lags significantly behind that of the rest of the Dutch population. This while melanoma is in the top 3 of the most common cancers among young people. One in three millennials (18-38 years old) does not know what a melanoma is, compared to one in five Dutch people over the age of 38. This is according to research by the Melanoma Foundation. Moreover, more than 60% of them do not check their skin sufficiently for suspicious spots, while the chances of survival are much higher if you are there early. In order to make young people more aware of the importance of regularly checking the skin, the Melanoma Foundation is launching the international Discover Your Spot campaign.

Every year, more and more Dutch people are told that they have melanoma – the most aggressive and deadly form of skin cancer. In 2017, 6,743 people in the Netherlands received this diagnosis. With early detection, the chance of survival is almost 100%, but melanoma spreads relatively quickly and survival in metastatic melanoma is very poor. “Regular (self) check of the skin is important. But we notice daily that there is still much ignorance about melanoma and especially among young people. They underestimate the dangers of unprotected sunbathing and sunbed use and do not realize that the skin damage they now incur increases their risk of melanoma and other forms of skin cancer later in life,” said Dr. Nicole Kukutsch, dermatologist at the Skin Cancer Center of the LUMC and member of the Advisory Board of the Melanoma Foundation.

Undiscovered spots
With the summer campaign Discover Your Spot, the Melanoma Foundation wants to change that. The centerpiece of the campaign is an appealing video with a strong summer holiday feeling. At first the viewer thinks the video is about a couple discovering a beautiful vacation spot, but then comes the confronting turn. Discover Your Spot is actually about a suspicious spot, a melanoma, on the skin of the girl in the video. She doesn’t take the spot seriously and doesn’t go to a doctor. This becomes fatal to her, even though the chances of cure are very high if you get there in time.

At the end of the video the viewer is referred to the campaign site of the Melanoma Foundation: www.stichtingmelanoom.nl/discoveryourspot. There is a checklist of six points to watch out for. Think about the growth or out of nowhere appearance of a (mother) spot, but also its regular bleeding or itching. The campaign – which is supported worldwide and shared by numerous melanoma organizations from other countries – should ensure that young people check their skin more often (or have it checked) and take action more quickly if they have discovered a suspicious spot.

The campaign video ‘Discover Your Spot’ can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZkVcLmYmYQ.

Less urgency among young people
Lotte (23 years old) never took into account that she could get melanoma. “I always loved to sunbathe and didn’t think about the consequences. At one point my boyfriend noticed a strange mole. Only after a long time of urging from him did I go to the doctor. It turned out to be a melanoma. I ended up in a rollercoaster of uncertainty and operations. Fortunately, I’m doing well now and I’m especially glad that my friend was so alert.”

Dermatologists recommend checking your skin regularly for suspicious spots. Besides the fact that millennials don’t check their skin (enough), 22% of them have no idea what to look for when checking their skin. Also notable from the survey is that the younger guard of millennials (up to 30 years old) are the least likely to have their skin checked by a doctor – over 20% of them ever have it done, compared to a third of the Dutch population as a whole. This is according to the research conducted by the Melanoma Foundation among 1,088 Dutch people aged 18 and older.

Many Dutch people ignorant
The awareness campaigns of the Melanoma Foundation and organizations such as KWF and Skin Fund in recent years do seem to have had an effect. The percentage of 20- to 50-year-olds who say they know what a melanoma is has increased significantly: from 63% in 2016 to 71% in 2018. Proof of growing awareness around melanoma in the Netherlands. Yet there are still many misconceptions. Therefore, in addition to the video campaign, the Melanoma Foundation ‘zooms in’ on the facts and fables surrounding melanoma via its social media channels.

• For example, more than a fifth (22%) of respondents think – wrongly – that the use of aftersun after sun exposure reduces the chances of melanoma.
• Nearly 58% of those surveyed have no idea that melanoma is in the top three most common cancer types among young people.
• One-third of those surveyed do not know that melanoma can spread to other areas of the skin.
• Nearly half of those surveyed do not know that melanoma can spread to other areas of the body other than the skin.
• Almost half of those surveyed do not know that a melanoma can metastasize quickly.
• 28% of the Dutch do not know that skin cancer is the strongest growing cancer worldwide.

For those who want to know more about the campaign, go to: www.stichtingmelanoom.nl/discoveryourspot.

About Melanoma Foundation
Melanoma Foundation is the patient organization for people with skin and eye melanoma since 1995. Melanoma Foundation’s mission: less melanoma and more cure. The core tasks are information, prevention, advocacy and peer contact. In 2017, over 6,700 people in the Netherlands were diagnosed with melanoma. This number has been rising for years and increasingly affects young people.