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Skin Cancer: 8 Facts and Myths

  • M3 Insights, Oncology Focus, Patients Experience

*The translation of this article in French, Spanish, and German has been made through machine translation and has not been edited yet. we apologise for any inaccuracies.

What causes skin cancer and how to reduce the risk of skin cancer? Here we highlight important facts and myths about skin cancer and sun exposure.

Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Yet, there’re some public misconceptions around skin cancer facts.

According to The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD), “Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the UK, and the number of people diagnosed with the condition has risen steeply since the 1970s”. Fortunately, this cancer is also one of the most preventable cancers. Thus, making it important to raise awareness and educate more people on how to reduce the risks of cancer.


Every year, the month of May is dedicated to events around Skin Cancer Awareness where organisations and businesses around the world put effort into educating people about this type of cancer and on how to protect their skin and encourage people to adopt personal protective measures against this cancer.

Following the theme of Skin Cancer Awareness, M3 Global Research asked over 900 M3 Panel members if they could spot 5 myths about this cancer, in order to find out what the most common misconceptions about this cancer could be. The M3 Monthly Question Poll for Patients that was conducted in May 2022, gave us some interesting insights.

But before looking into the results, let´s uncover eight facts and myths about this type of cancer.

3 Facts:
  1. A sunny day in winter can be just as dangerous as a beautiful summer’s day
  2. Limiting sun exposure between 10 am and 4 pm helps you keep your skin from burning
  3. Protective clothing and sitting in the shade can help limit sun exposure
5 Myths
  1. People with dark skin don’t need to wear sun cream
  2. Tanning is always safe as long as you don’t burn
  3. You can’t burn through glass
  4. Sunbeds (solarium) are safer than exposure to the sun 
  5. Using sun cream once a day, applied in the morning, is sufficient to protect your skin

M3 Monthly Question Poll for Patients – May 2022 Results About Skin Cancer

Can you spot 5 myths about sun exposure in our poll this month? Please choose as many as you can find. 

 

The results indicate that many people are indeed aware of the myths about skin cancer. 69% of the people who participated found all five cancer myths, among the choice of 5 myths and three cancer facts. The myth that was spotted by the least people was myth number three: “You can’t burn through glass”, which was identified by a total of 55% of all participants.  

Some of these facts and myths about this cancer and what causes skin cancer may seem obvious and needless to point out. However, they are tremendously important to not only know but to understand the reasons behind why it is the way it is and to adopt personal protective measures to reduce the risk of this type of cancer in your daily life. Considering that this type of cancer is one of the most preventable cancers, it becomes our own responsibility to be careful and protect ourselves and our children against this type of cancer. We encourage you to learn more about this type of cancer and how to reduce the risks of skin cancer.

Sources to Learn More About Skin Cancer

There are two main categories of this type of cancer: melanoma and non-melanoma. If you want a brief skin cancer overview, we recommend you read more on BAD website.

If you want more facts about melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer and how to reduce the risk of skin cancer, we advise you to read through the NHS website in the links above, where you can find more information about:

  • Symptoms
  • Causes
  • Diagnosis
  • Treatments

For advice on how to protect yourself against this type of cancer and get more information on what causes skin cancer, please read the complete guide of “Skin Cancer Prevention Skin Cancer foundation.
As a healthcare advocate, you may also want to learn more about other global awareness initiatives. Make sure to check out our latest M3 Blog post about World Hemophilia Day 2022 and Brain Injury Awareness Month 2022

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