Melanoma rates are up

Sunday Times 9/10/2011 p30, Sunday Telegraph 9/10/2011 p30

Melanoma rates have doubled in the past 30 years despite widespread use of sunscreen prompted by the ‘Slip, Slop, Slap’ sun-safe campaign three decades ago.

Researchers are trying to unlock the genetic codes that cause melanoma cells to reveal why 10,000 people a year are diagnosed with the cancer.

It is hoped the two year Melanoma Genome Project will provide much needed answers and lead the way for targeted drug treatment.

Researcher Graham Mann from the Melanoma Institute in New South Wales, said that even though sun exposure drove melanoma, it was not the only reason for the cancer.