Skin Protection Remains Critical Amid Extended Fun In The Sun

HINGHAM, MA — Maryellen Maguire-Eisen felt the Children's Melanoma Prevention Foundation was really making progress toward its goal of "preventing skin cancer, one child at a time, through education and advocacy."

When she and her staff visited schools, recreation sites and summer camps throughout Greater Boston, the North Shore and South Shore each spring and summer to promote the importance of proper skin care in the sun, she said she saw there was an audience connection. Now, she is worried that connection may be lost this summer as people spend more time outside due to the coronavirus health emergency, but the means to educate people on sun and skin cancer risks is greatly diminished.

"We used to find that teaching counselors to model the behavior was the best practice for sun protection," said the Hingham resident and both founder and executive director of the CMPF. "We worked with groups to get the counselors to put on sunscreen. And when they did it, the kids with them were more apt to do it. They were informing us that it was changing behaviors. They saw putting on sunscreen as part of their personal protection for their jobs. You would see the bottles in their backpacks. It was so rewarding."

Maguire-Eisen said the CMPF had more than 70 seminars and clinics set up with schools, clubs and other organizations this outdoor season to reinforce the message she has been trying to hammer home for 17 years with the foundation. But, due to the coronavirus, schools were closed throughout the spring when that message was needed most, and she is finding that some camps and recreation programs are either canceled for this summer, or are too consumed with meeting pandemic-related guidelines to schedule time to learn about the preventive maintenance of sun protection.

Yet, the Centers for Disease Control reports that every 45 minutes someone in the country dies of a sun-related cancer, 50 percent of children report suffering a sunburn at least once annually and 72 percent of all melanomas in children are detected on girls between the ages of 15 and 19.

"We have found that a lot of our success has been through our ability to get into the schools," said Maguire-Eisen, an oncology and dermatology nurse with more than 40 years of experience in the field. "Normally, we would have been doing that all spring. What we are really trying to do now is pivot. But it's really, really disappointing not being in the schools because that captive audience is so important. It's really too bad."

With other established methods of prevention possibly less effective this year due to coronavirus concerns — the CMPF has provided sunscreen dispensers at beaches in the past that Maguire Eisen worries will be less likely to be used this summer due to the communal touching surface — the CMPF has produced a series on online videos and presentations Maguire-Eisen hopes parents and young people will watch and take to heart.

"Our ears are something to really keep an eye on this year," she said. "The noses and lips will be covered with masks a lot — which is good — but our ears will be even more exposed to tremendous UV exposure."

She said sun damage and potential skin cancers won't take a break for coronavirus fears to dissipate this summer.

"Early detection is really important to know what the disease looks like," she said, noting that improved treatments are now helping even people with metastatic melanoma recover, but that the more advanced the disease, the more invasive the treatments.

She said she has been told of several cases out of the CMPF's Norwell offices where people forewent treatments due to coronavirus this spring, and saw their condition advance considerably in just three months.

She said that this time of year — with many people venturing out for the first time consistently after months of being mostly inside due to stay-at-home coronavirus restrictions — is the most dangerous time of year when it comes to sunburns.

"The sun is at its strongest on June 21," she said of the summer solstice. "Many people think it's most dangerous in August when it's the hottest. But that's not the case. It's right now when people are going to their outdoor town meetings this year.

"We teach them about these things and how the reflection of the sun off water, or being in the altitude of the mountains (on a hike), all play a role."

She said the most fair-skinned children are often the most aware of the potential damage of the sun — and can develop a fear of going to the beach because of it — but it is those with darker skin who are less apt to burn quickly, and because of that typically spend much longer in the sun without protection.

The CMPF devised programs for use with the state's distance-learning program this spring, and is available for any groups that may benefit from summer guidance for their staff, athletes, campers or community groups, and can be contacted here.

"We want kids to understand how their skin reacts in the sun," Maguire-Eisen said, "their own personal skin sensitivity, how to properly use sun protection — how much to use, and how often to reapply."