The risk of skin cancer is decreasing for people under 50, said Hildur Helgadottir, associate professor of oncology at the Karolinska Institute and lead author of a study published in the JAMA Dermatology medical journal [1].

“Significant trend break around 2015”

The decline was most likely due in part to heightened awareness about sun protection and a drop in access to sunbeds, she told AFP.

Helgadottir said there was a "very clear and significant trend break around 2015".

"For 30-year-olds before 2015, there was an increase of on average five percent per year. But since 2015, it has decreased by on average five percent per year," she said.

For those aged 50 and older, "it rises by at least five percent per year and the increase rises steeply with age".

While the researchers did not analyse the causes of the decline in skin cancer cases, several main factors were believed to have played a role.

Prevention campaigns

The first factor that may have lower the incidence of melanoma is increased awareness of the importance of sun protection.

“The first national ’Sun Safe’ campaign in the 1990s specifically highlighted the importance of protecting children. About 20 years later, we believe that this has led to a reduction in the incidence of the disease in younger adults,” highlights Hildur Helgadottir.

Another factor was the introduction in Sweden of a 2018 ban on under-18s using sunbeds and a decline in public access to sunbeds that started years earlier.

Mobile phones and computers were also believed to play a role in the decline because children were now spending more time indoors and were therefore not exposed to as much sunlight these days, Helgadottir said.

But she stressed that this was a recent trend and had "not yet had a significant effect".

The report did not comment on any potential health risks associated with mobile phones or on any health benefits for children of spending more time outdoors.

Finally, immigration could also have played a role, since it means that there are more individuals in Sweden with darker pigmentation who can tolerate the sun better.

No drop for those over 60

Deaths from skin cancer have also declined among under-60s in Sweden but not among older people.

That decrease is attributed both to a drop in actual cases of skin cancer and the introduction of new drugs that have improved chances of survival.

Among the elderly, mortality is not dropping because the incidence of the disease is still so high, Helgadottir said.

While awareness of the importance of sun protection appears to be declining among younger generations, these results highlight the crucial role of prevention campaigns.