Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer Ups Risk for Other Cancers

Dr. Martin Weinstock, chair of the skin cancer advisory committee at the American Cancer Society, said awareness and testing are key.

"People who have had skin cancers should make sure they are up-to-date on all their screening tests," Weinstock said. "They should be up-to-date on their colonoscopies, fecal occult blood and mammograms and Pap smears," he said.

In addition, people need to protect themselves from UV exposure, so they don't develop skin cancer in the first place, Weinstock said.

In another report, published in the same issue of the journal, researchers found that patients who use blood pressure-lowering drugs called angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) have a lower risk of developing basal or squamous cell skin cancers.

In research led by Jennifer Christian, from the VA Medical Center and Brown University in Providence, R.I., researchers found that patients taking ACE inhibitors or ARBs had a 39 percent lower risk of developing basal cell skin cancer and a 33 percent lower risk of developing squamous cell skin cancer.

Why these drugs lower the risk of skin cancer isn't known, the researchers said.

More information

For more on skin cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

SOURCES: Anthony Alberg, Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston; Robin Ashinoff, M.D., dermatologist and clinical associate professor, dermatology, New York University Medical Center, New York City; Martin Weinstock, M.D., Ph.D., chairman, skin cancer advisory committee, American Cancer Society; Aug. 26, 2008, online edition,Journal of the National Cancer Institute