At 21 years old, Julia Roberts of Ann Arbor has survived a bout with skin cancer and is now working to educate the public about the dangers of the disease.
The Grand Blanc native and University of Michigan student was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma in January 2011.
Like many teenagers, Roberts went to tanning beds before spring break and dances to get a base tan.
“I’m very confident that had a large role in my diagnosis,” she said. “As of now, I’m just trying to tell as many girls as I can to not do the same thing that I did.”
After discovering a spot on her back that was not there before, Roberts made an appointment with her dermatologist who performed a biopsy. Three weeks later, she received the news that it was melanoma.
Roberts and her family decided to seek a more aggressive form of treatment and Roberts had surgery to remove the mole. Another procedure showed the cancer had moved into the lymph nodes under her arm and she elected to have surgery in March 2011 to have those removed.
She had no side effects from surgery except for a loss of feeling in the back of her arm where surgeons had to cut through a nerve. However, it doesn’t bother her, she said.
Now, she is in the observatory stage and visits her surgeon and dermatologist every three months for monitoring of her skin and lymph nodes.
Before her diagnosis, Roberts was a Relay For Life team captain as her maternal grandparents were both diagnosed with cancer and her mother had a less severe form of skin cancer.
Now a cancer survivor, she is involved with the Relay For Life at the University of Michigan as a member of the mission committee and also works on publicity and recruiting for the event, which is set to take place again next April.
Roberts said there is a misconception that it’s a less severe form of cancer and a small surgery can cure it.
“I just feel like a lot of people are unaware of the severity of skin cancer,” she said.
Dr. Michael Sabel, associate professor of surgery at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, said the risk of developing skin cancer later in life is primarily from exposure to UV radiation as a child up until the early 20s.
Through the past several years, the center has seen an increased incidence of melanoma in patients of all age groups, he said.
The National Cancer Institute is estimating that in 2012 there will be 76,250 new cases of melanoma and 9,180 deaths.
People should focus on prevention, self examination and early detection. They should also use common sense sun behaviors, he said.
“It’s an inconvenience but it’s worth it,” he said.
Sabel recommends several ways to protect against skin cancer.
First is to protect yourself from UV radiation by not using tanning beds or lamps, which have both been associated with skin cancer.
People should also protect themselves from UV radiation and wear protective clothing whenever possible. However, he warns that not all clothing is equal and wearing a white T-shirt is not going to protect against UV rays.
Sunblock should protect from both UVA and UVB rays, be no less than 30 SPF and applied to any areas of skin that are exposed.
There is no such thing as waterproof sunblock and it should be applied every two hours, even if you are just sweating. It also should be applied before going outdoors, not while outside when exposure has already occurred, he said.
Wearing sunglasses with UV protection is also important.
Extended exposure also should be avoided between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when UV radiation is at its strongest.
All of these are ways to prevent skin cancer, a disease that, if caught early, has extremely high cure rates. However, the key is skin examination and detection, which should be performed every one to two months, he said.
People who are considered high-risk such as those who have had several sunburns, a family history of cancer, burn easily, have multiple moles, should see their dermatologist once or twice a year for a full skin examination.
A risk calculator is available at NCI or on the University of Michigan’s recently released iTunes application “myskincheck.” The application allows patients to create a library of photos from a self skin examination. It also alerts them to when an exam is needed and what to do if something appears to be abnormal.
Sabel said the key is finding the cancer at a point where it can be treated with surgery alone.
“There’s nothing compared to finding it early,” he said.
He also discussed a few myths regarding protection from the sun.
A common misconception is about UV rays. UV rays are not only reflected off of water, they are also reflected from sand and even concrete, he said.
Another involves individuals who say they need sun exposure to get Vitamin D.
Sufficient amounts of Vitamin D can be received from diet and small, 15 minutes of daily sun exposure, he said.
“It should be small amounts on a daily basis,” he said.
However, it is common that we get the worst of both worlds. Many don’t receive enough Vitamin D through their diet and don’t get a small, daily dose of sunlight. To try to make up for it, many spend a lot of time outdoors on the weekend, when overexposure can occur, resulting in sunburn, he said.
