THE ESSENTIAL
- 1.5 million cases of skin cancer were diagnosed in 2020 according to the WHO.
- In all, that same year, there were more than 120,000 deaths related to this disease.
This may seem surprising, but it is Brittany that holds the record for the number of skin cancers in metropolitan France. The cases would be three times higher than in the rest of the country.
1,000 cases of skin cancer per year in Brittany
“We are faced with a gradual but continuous increase in the number of melanomas (skin cancer) in Brittany over the last thirty years: we are three times higher than the French average“, explains Élodie Poullin, director of the CPAM of Côtes d’Armor. And the figures are high: around 1,000 cases detected per year and an excess mortality of 28% in women. But why ?
There is less sun than in other regions, but this does not prevent the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) rays… Quite the contrary. One of the first risk factors is precisely that the inhabitants do not protect themselves enough. Indeed, even when the sun does not seem strong, UV rays are present.
“Among the population, we have many phototypes 1, i.e. when we have light skin, eyes, complexion, hair color, we are genetically more at risk of having cancer“, continues Élodie Poullin. Risk factors are all the more important if you do not protect yourself and have an outdoor job like fishermen and farmers who are very numerous in Brittany.
Brittany lacks dermatologists
Another explanation for this explosion of cases in Brittany: the lack of dermatologists in the region. They are the ones who can detect skin cancer. “In Saint-Brieuc, there were ten dermatologists ten years ago, there is now only one, explains Dr. Nicole Cochelin, elected to the Regional Union of Health Professionals. And of the 120 dermatologists in Brittany, 30% will retire within five years“.
A dermatological follow-up makes it possible to better detect but also to give the right advice to avoid this disease. For example, it is recommended to avoid exposure to the sun – or UV rays – between 12 and 4 p.m., the hottest times of the day. Of course, too, put on sunscreen every two hours and put on clothes to protect yourself… All this while staying in the shade if possible.