Marathon Runners More At Risk for Skin Cancer

Ivanhoe Newswire
Tuesday, November 21, 2006; 12:00 AM

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Marathon runners beware ... Your sport may make you more likely to develop skin cancer.

A new report from Austria finds during training and competition, marathon runners are exposed to high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, a big risk factor for melanoma skin cancer. And endurance exercise and extreme training may weaken the immune system, also increasing the skin cancer risk.

Researchers compared 210 marathon runners to 210 people of the same age and sex who didn't run marathons. Participants included 166 men and 44 women between ages 19 and 71.

Researchers report the marathon runners had more atypical moles and small lesions -- more of these increase your risk for malignant melanoma. The more intense the training, the more pronounced these features were.

Researchers report 37.1 percent of the runners ran up to 25 miles a week, 48.1 percent ran 25 to 44 miles, and 14.8 percent ran more than 44 miles weekly. Most of them said they wore shorts and short-sleeved or sleeveless shirts when they trained, exposing body parts particularly susceptible to UV radiation. Just more than half of the runners said they used sunscreen regularly while training or competing, 41.9 percent used it occasionally, and 1.9 percent did not use sunscreen at all.

The authors note the popularity of marathons has surged recently. They stress marathon runners should be warned of these findings and advised to reduce UV exposure during exercising by choosing training and competition schedules with low sun exposure. Wearing clothing that blocks the sun and sunscreens can also help prevent skin cancer.

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SOURCE: Archives of Dermatology, 2006;142:1471-1474