Sandra Pedersen (21) from Hommersåk outside Sandnes in Rogaland has red hair and light skin, what is often called skin type 1. She is easily sunburned and has always been careful in the sunlight. – I have been very aware all my life, have always worn sunscreen with a high factor, I have never slept and sunbathed, and always knew that I can not get brown, she tells news. During the summer holidays, the family has nevertheless sought sun and warmth in Greece, almost every year. They did the same in 2019. During the summer, Sandra, who was then 19 years old, was annoyed by some large moles she did not like the look of. – They were in the way and itched a little and such. She knew that her mother had removed many moles, and decided to go to the doctor to have some removed herself. AT THE Dermatologist: Xiaotong Li at Volvat Majorstuen says that he removes moles every single day, especially in the spring and summer. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news – Removes moles every single day From Easter and especially in May, many people come to a check-up at dermatologist Xiaotong Li at Volvat at Majorstuen in Oslo. – Several campaigns and media reports make people aware, he thinks. In addition to that it is when you start to undress. Xiaotong Li says he has 5-6 patients every single day who want to check or remove moles. – Either because they bother the patient, or because we are unsure if there may be any disease in them. See how the check takes place, in the video below: VIDEO: Dermatologist Xiaotong Li at Volvat Majorstuen, checks the skin of reporter Kristin Granbo. Check from head to toe At the dermatologist, it is common to check the skin on the whole body, even if you only come in with one suspicious spot. – Then I check the whole back, the front, we see between the toes and between the fingers. Xiaotong Li uses a dermatoscope to look into the depths of the skin layers. He examines the size of the mole, color shades and the boundary between the healthy skin and the mole. Also shape and height can have a say. EARLY DISCOVERY: Dermatologist Xiaotong Li explains how melanoma can develop from month to month. – It is easier to process and better forecasts if you arrive early. Photo: Ksenia Novikova / news – For melanoma, thickness is crucial for prognosis. The thinner, the better. We count from 0.1 mm, and every 0.1 mm counts. He says that with each passing month, a melanoma can grow thicker. – The thinner the melanoma, the smaller area of the skin around you must remove, and in all the thinnest cases there is usually no suspicion of spreading. Although it develops very differently from person to person, it is generally much easier to treat and much better prognosis if you arrive early. It happens relatively often that he finds “good types” of skin cancer, but melanoma is more rare. – I see it maybe once a month. Stopped at a tiny spot In Hommersåk, Sandra Pedersen booked an appointment with the GP to remove some moles after the summer of 2019. She showed him the large and annoying spots she herself had noticed. He quickly looked over them, instead he stopped at a tiny spot on his leg that he thought looked dangerous. – I had not even noticed it, Sandra remembers. REMOVED MOTHER: Sandra Pederson took this picture herself after the GP removed a tiny mole on her leg in the autumn of 2019. Two small stitches were all that was left. Photo: private The stain was small, but still a little darker than the others that were found on her skin. The doctor removed the stain and sent it for further analysis. It took almost a month before she received any feedback on the survey. Then Sandra had completely forgotten the stain and that there could be something wrong with what the doctor had found. Norway at the top of the world Norway is one of the countries in the world with the most mole cancer. Most cases are related to UV radiation from the sun and solarium, the Cancer Society writes on its pages. The increase has been dramatic since the 1950s. Then there were 50-60 cases of melanoma a year, in 2010 it was 1518, and in 2021 just over 2400 cases. – It may seem like a paradox that so many here in sun-poor Norway get this form of cancer. But precisely because there are few sunny days in Norway, it can make us extra sun-hungry and get too much sun in a short time, says Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross, Secretary General of the Norwegian Cancer Society. What is melanoma? Melanoma, often called mole cancer, is the most serious type of skin cancer and can occur in both new and old moles throughout the body. Cancer occurs when the genetic material (DNA) gets damage that changes the cells. The color we get when the skin gets sunburned is the skin’s way of defending itself against more sun. Too much UV radiation can eventually lead to DNA changes in the pigment cells. – Most of these injuries are repaired by the body itself, but in certain cases the cells can begin to divide uncontrollably, and a tumor can grow, says Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross, Secretary General of the Norwegian Cancer Society. If the melanoma is detected early, the prognosis for recovery is good. Source: Kreftforeningen MORE SURVIVORS: In Norway, there has been a sharp increase in the number of cases of melanoma. The bright spot is that more people than before survive cancer with spread, says Secretary General of the Norwegian Cancer Society, Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross. Photo: Jorunn Valle Nilsen Although there are many cases of melanoma also in the rest of Scandinavia, it is only in Norway that we top the statistics on deaths. Last year, 295 people died of melanoma, according to figures from the Cancer Registry. The mortality rate from melanoma in Norway is more than 40 per cent higher than in the other Nordic countries, according to figures from the Norwegian Cancer Registry and Nordcan. Only in New Zealand do more people die of melanoma than in Norway. But there are some bright spots, says Stenstadvold Ross. More patients who have melanoma with spread survive, compared to before. – The availability of immunotherapy is probably the most important reason for this. Around the turn of the millennium, survival was around 15 percent for melanoma with spread. Now more than half survive. This is an unparalleled development when it comes to cancer with spread. Spread to the brain The reason why many people die of melanoma in Norway is that it is discovered too late, the Norwegian Cancer Society states. ENCOURAGES FOLLOWERS: Kristiane Aateigen wrote on Facebook that she had a wake-up call from a young death in May. It made her go to the doctor to check her moles. Photo: screenshot from Facebook In mid-May, Kristiane Aateigen posted a post on social media in which she encourages her followers to be careful in the sun, and to check their moles regularly. She writes on the Facebook page “Bad health” that “it should be like a story from a girl who is dying of cancer until before I book the important classes”. The girl she is referring to is 26-year-old Camilla Olstad Hansen. In October last year, she shared a post on Instagram where she told that the mole cancer had spread to the brain and neck in just a year. After extensive surgery and treatment, Hansen died on 6 May this year. Friends and family have tagged her latest post on Instagram with #Kreftforeningen and #Bruksolkrem. DEAD: Camilla Olstad Hansen died in May after the mole cancer had spread. Photo: Screenshot from Instagram Most people over the age of 50 It is relatively rare to get melanoma as a young person, the risk increases with age. – Most people who get melanoma are over 50 years old, but this is also the second most common form of cancer in the age group 25-50 years, says Stenstadvold Ross in the Norwegian Cancer Society. For those between 10 and 20 years old, there are on average less than five cases of melanoma each year. In 2019, the Cancer Registry shows that only two people under the age of 20 were diagnosed with melanoma. Became part of rare statistics When the doctor calls Sandra Pedersen in the autumn of 2019, it has been about a month since the last visit, and the stitches on the leg are gone. – The doctor says that melanoma has been found in the mole. I was a little shocked! Sandra says that she manages to get a little scared if it may have spread further. MAJOR INTERVENTIONS: Where previously there was enough skin cut away to sew again with two stitches, doctors now remove a larger part of the skin to check and make sure that the cancer has not spread to other parts of the skin layers. Photo: private The doctor says that it is at an early stage, but to be sure, Sandra is sent to a surgical procedure at Stavanger University Hospital to remove a larger part of the skin on the leg. It ends in eleven stitches that are sewn in December 2019. In addition to the operation, she is sent to a dermatologist to check the other moles carefully. Lymph nodes on the whole body are also examined to make sure that the body is not prepared for cancer elsewhere. The skin that is removed on the calf shows no signs of cancer, the doctors say it is good it was found so early. Sandra feels very lucky. – I am very happy that I went and checked and had something removed. Had I waited a few years, maybe gone on a few more holiday trips, it could have developed into something worse. Can prevent with good solvans early Still 1 in 5 young people use a solarium. This is shown by the Youth Survey 2022, conducted by Respons, for the Norwegian Cancer Society. Half of those who took a tanning bed were under the age of 18 for the first time, and 15 per cent were under the age of 15. In the survey, 46 per cent of young people answer that they believe that using a tanning bed increases the risk of cancer. In comparison, 20 percent believe that outdoor sun increases the risk of cancer. Although it is not common to get mole cancer when young, the habits we have can affect how the skin develops later in life, the Cancer Society states. – UV rays from the sun or solarium can do great damage to our cells, because they can destroy our genetic material (DNA) completely inside the cell nucleus. If we get sunburned many times over time, damaged cells can turn into cancer cells. And sometimes to cancer, says Ingrid Stenstadvold Ross in the Cancer Society. TATTOO: Sandra Pedersen has chosen to frame the scar after the mole cancer in a big sun. It should remind her and others that it is unnecessary to take chances in the sun. Photo: private A «sunshine story» – Everyone thinks that: «It does not happen to me». I did that too, says Sandra Pedersen in Rogaland. Around a long scar on the inside of her left leg, she has now tattooed a large sun. It should remind her, and everyone who sees it, that it is unnecessary to take chances in the sun. – If someone asks what it means, then I can tell about what I experienced. Then I have ensured that another person remembers that you have to check yourself and follow. She knows that the risk of getting it again is somewhat greater if you have had it first. She has that in mind at all times. She monitors the UV index every single day, and takes care to protect herself when the sun is particularly strong. The 21-year-old says she is not afraid of the sun, but it has made her more careful. – I look at it as a sunshine story.
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Norwegians top mortality statistics for mole cancer, Sandra’s (21) melanoma was detected early – Special
