Those Curious Changes in Your Kid’s Skin

Think you should only slather on sunscreen during the summer?

“The sun is not always your friend,” said Dr. Vernon K. Sondak, chair of the department of cutaneous oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida. “Protect the skin you’re in — it’s the only one you’re going to get. The idea of a healthy tan — it’s not true. We wish kids would love the color of the skin they’re born with.”

“It was just a red spot that grew on her cheek one day,” said the mother of a toddler diagnosed with melanoma.

Sondak spoke with LifeZette just before two scheduled surgeries on young melanoma patients recently. Yes, kids can get cancer, he says.

Melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, is on the rise in both adults and children, according to the Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF). While it is still quite rare, a 2013 study published in the journal Pediatrics indicated that pediatric melanoma diagnoses are rising in the U.S. — particularly in the 15- to 19-year-old age group — by about 2 percent each year.

“Kids are kids. They don’t want to put on sunscreen. They don’t want to wait before they go out on a beautiful day. But if we can get them to have good habits, just like we tell them, ‘Don’t smoke, don’t use drugs, don’t get into a car with a strange person — use your sunscreen. Stay out of the sun at the hottest time of the day, wear a hat, and protect your skin.’ That’s got to be added to the list of things we teach our children,” said Sondak.

The sun, however, isn’t the only cause of skin cancer in children, Brenda Caraway of Houston, Texas, said. This mother’s goal is to make parents more aware that any changes in their child’s skin and moles should be taken seriously. Caraway’s daughter, Kadynce Royer, was diagnosed with advanced stage nodular melanoma, one of the most aggressive forms of melanoma, at just two years old.

Related: Discoveries Halt Deadliest Skin Cancers

“Most of our kids end up with a different type of melanoma than adults — spitzoid melanoma, for instance, which is more wart-like. It was just a red spot that grew on her cheek one day,” said Caraway.

[lz_bulleted_list title=”Pediatric Melanoma Symptoms” source=”http://www.melanoma.org”]Bump that itches and bleeds|Spot that looks like an unusual wart|Lump on skin that isn’t dark or black|Mole that gets bumpy or sticks out|Rapidly enlarging nodule or lump|Mole that looks strange or large[/lz_bulleted_list]

Eight surgeries and a year of treatment later, her daughter is cancer-free — and Caraway has taken on the role as the pediatric program coordinator for MRF. She knows they’re among the lucky ones.

“Every year, you have your kids’ eyes examined, you get them an annual checkup — you should also have a skin check every single year. It just doesn’t make any sense not to do that. Kids get skin cancer — kids get melanoma. That has been our driving force. Don’t let any doctor tell you that children cannot get skin cancer. It happens.”

Both Sondak and Caraway believe increased awareness by physicians and families is contributing to the higher number of young children being diagnosed. Previously, the cancerous spots may not have been caught until they were over 18, when treating such issues becomes much more difficult.

“Teenage girls and young adult women are a big part of the increase in melanoma cases,” said one oncologist.

“In the past, it was typical that when a parent asked about a mole, a pediatrician might have said, ‘Quit being a worry wort, it’s just a mole. Kids get moles. Don’t worry about it.’ Now, maybe with more awareness, or more pediatric dermatologists, or fear of being sued, doctors say, ‘I don’t know what it is,’ and refer them to a dermatologist,” said Sondak. “Now these moles are ending up on the pathologist’s microscope.”

Others say the problem is exaggerated — there aren’t that many more children being diagnosed. Or, according to Sondak, that dermatologists and oncologists are over-treating something that isn’t a big deal.

Sondak said he doesn’t think that’s the case. He’s also not willing to take the risk. “Failure is not an option,” he said, in treating these children who should grow into healthy young adults. This means protecting their skin from the sun.

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“Teenage girls — young adult women — they are a big part of the increase in the number of melanoma cases in this young age group and that is tied to recreational sun exposure and especially tanning beds,” said Sondak.

“Not just in Florida,” he added, “but in places with much less sunshine, where tanning-bed use is particularly rampant. But even after we take away all the tanning beds, there’s still a rising incidence of melanoma in children who have never used a tanning bed, and don’t look like they should have the kind of skin color and hair color and light eyes susceptible to melanoma. It’s often quite the contrary.”