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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Freckles, moles hike chance of eye cancer

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 03/24/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

Freckle-faced Corey Halpin, 13, shows off his big scar at his Hanover Park, Ill., home on Monday, April 18, 2005, a reminder of surgery three years ago to remove a cancerous growth from his left arm. At age 10, doctors discovered melanoma on Corey's left arm, the most serious and potentially deadly form of skin cancer that until recently was almost unheard of in children. (AP Photo/Brian Kersey) (AP)

EDMONTON -- People who have freckles and moles have a higher chance of developing eye cancer, according to a Canadian study published in the U.S. medical journal Ophthalmology this month.

Edmonton ophthalmologist Dr. Ezekiel Weis says he and his team from the University of Alberta have completed the world's first conclusive study into the connection between skin blemishes and cancer of the iris, also known as Uveal cancer.

Weis's analysis found that people with many freckles or moles on their skin have between two and four times the chance of developing melanoma of the eye than people with no such blemishes.

"The theory is, people who have freckles and moles have a skin type that's predisposed to UV damage," and moles and freckles don't develop without sun exposure, said Weis, who's also an eye surgeon at Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital.

Weis said Monday doctors need to be vigilant with patients who have many moles or freckles and warn them to try to stay out of the sun.

Weis said further research is needed to determine what methods are most effective in preventing this rare eye cancer, adding something as simple as wearing sunglasses may help.

"Sunglasses are protective for other eye diseases, such as cataracts, and we don't know any harm from them," Weis said. "So we would recommend people wear sunglasses when they're out in the sun."

Uveal cancer is extremely rare, affecting only about six out of a million people annually. Those who are most susceptible are the elderly, those with light skin and eye colour, and people who sunburn easily. Once contracted, the mortality rate of Uveal cancer patients is 50 per cent.

-- Canwest News Service

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 24, 2009 C6

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