Sharp rise in melanoma cases

Wednesday, 27 July 2011 09:43

Written by Editor

The Carlos Haya hospital dealt with 81 and 83 cases of melanoma – the most aggressive form of skin cancer – in 2009 and 2010 respectively, compared with the average of 60 cases it had dealt with in previous years. A spokesman for the hospital's dermatology department said more women had been treated than men, whose average age when treated was over 60, as opposed to an average age of between 30 and 45 in the women.

The youngest patient had been a girl of 17.Most of the women treated were housewives, while the men tended to be outside workers in the fishing, agriculture and  the construction sectors. The spokesman said melanoma could be successfully treated if diagnosed early.