Mobile melanoma unit screens Fort Erie residents on Thursday

Decades ago, about one in every 1,200 people would be diagnosed with melanoma.

But today, that number is as high as one in 60, says Dr. Michael Connolly, a dermatologist with the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada who was in town on Thursday with the Melanoma Canada mobile skin cancer screening unit, part of a tour with dozens of stops in Ontario.

The mobile screening room, called the Mole Mobile, was set up in the Canadian Tire parking lot from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and would be examining close to 100 people by the end of the day, Connolly told Fort Erie shortly after 12 p.m., as several people lined up to see him.

Melanoma and skin cancer are one of the few cancers with incidence rates on the rise in Canada and worldwide. Incidence rates for new melanoma cases have been rising on average by 1.4 per cent each year over the last ten years, according to 2016 statistics provided in a news release about the tour.

Skin cancers are the most common type of cancer diagnosed in men over 49 years of age and are among the most common cancers diagnosed in youth and young adults. If detected, early melanoma and skin cancers are largely treatable.

But it’s a “deadly disease” people need to take seriously, Connolly said.

“The big thing is to stay away from the sun,” he said.

People who work outside on their day jobs are usually pretty cautious, but “weekend warriors” who get “burned every weekend” by enjoying the outdoors without proper protection are part of the increase, he said.

A difference in the ozone layer compared to many years ago is a factor, he said.

It’s not uncommon to screen a large group in parts of the province where there is a shortage of family physicians.

“If we go to an area where a lot of people don’t have family doctors, we see a lot more lesions, and more advanced lesions,” said Connolly, who also said people should stay away from tanning beds.

Stevensville resident Steven Hayes said he stopped by the mobile clinic to have moles on his back checked out. He has a family doctor, but he expected he might get some better attention from the experts who were part of the program on Thursday.

“It’s just as easy to come to a place that specializes in this,” said Hayes.

During Melanoma Canada’s recent Mole Mobile launch in Ontario, in just 31 stops, more than 2,000 individuals were screened for skin cancer.

Dermatologists identified 58 potential melanomas, 155 suspected basal cell carcinomas, and 38 possible cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas, says the news release about the tour.

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