Squamous cell carcinoma: Women patients have different risks in the skin cancer in different regions

Squamous cell carcinoma: women patients have different risks in the skin cancer in different regions



“There’s an increased risk of skin cancer in general, as you know, from North to South,” said lead researcher Dr. Abrar A. Qureshi, of the Department of Dermatology at the Channing Laboratory of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. “So for people living in areas where there is more sun around, the risk of skin cancer is higher, as we’ve known for decades.”

“But what we found was that squamous cell carcinoma was very much related to the North-South difference,” Qureshi added. “Women living in the South had a twofold increased risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma, compared with women living in the North.”

However, there was no statistically significant difference for developing melanoma, whether women lived in the North or the South, Qureshi said. “We’re not saying that melanoma risk doesn’t increase with sun exposure, but compared to women living in the North, women in the South did not have a significantly increased risk of melanoma,” he said.


Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common form of skin cancer, with more than 250,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States. Most squamous cell cancers aren’t serious, particularly if they’re diagnosed and treated promptly. But later diagnoses can mean the cancers are harder to treat and can cause disfigurement. A small number of cases can be potentially fatal, according to The Skin Cancer Foundation.

For the new study, Qureshi’s team collected data at 84,836 women who took part in the Nurses’ Health Study. The women lived in different parts of the United States with different levels of UV exposure.



Qureshi said it’s not clear why there are differences in risk for different types of skin cancer. “The question is, is melanoma more a disease of genetics as well as exposure to the sun,” he said. “It could be more of a genetic disease than squamous cell carcinoma — that’s really the question.”



“We have a slogan of the American Cancer Society — slip, slop, slap,” said Dr. Martin A. Weinstock, a professor of dermatology at Brown University and a spokesman for the American Cancer Society. “Slip on a shirt, slop on the sunscreen and slap on a hat. That’s the advice when you’re out in the sun to protect yourself from the damage that leads to skin cancer, no matter where you live.”

Squamous cell carcinoma: Women patients have different risks in the skin cancer in different regions (Editting by Jane Lee)

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