Melanoma: The risk may increase if you live in the mountains

To understand if we suffer from melanoma, you should know where we are. This is no joke, but it is the truth confirmed by a new Italian study. He revealed that melanoma is more common in people living in mountain. This is because you are more exposed to UV radiation.

The study collected data from more than 2,700 patients. These were treated between 1998 and 2014 in the surgical oncology department of soft tissues, peritoneum and melanoma of the Veneto Institute of Oncology. factors: the characteristics of the disease, its onset and survival. He then also analyzed the areas in which the patients lived: hills, mountains, sea. Heights of up to almost 3,400 meters at the top of the Marmolada were also taken into account.

The result of the study showed that the incidence of melanoma increases in direct proportion to theincrease fromheight. However, the disease changes depending on altitude. In the mountains and in the hills, the neck, head, palms, feet, oral mucosa and lower nails are the most affected by melanoma. On the coast, on the other hand, the trunk or limbs. At sea, the data is less aggressive. In addition, the study found that origin is not related to variants of overall survival.

Simone Mocellin, director of the complex surgical unit oncology surgery of soft tissues, peritoneum and melanoma of the Iov and coordinator of the study, states:

Patients from hilly and mountainous locations also had some negative prognostic factors: such as greater Breslow thickness, the presence of ulcerations, and the higher number of cell replications. More than exposure to ultraviolet rays, this finding may also be due to later treatment of patients living in these areas: far from urban centers.