Another reason to wear a hat

…and make it a wide-brimmed one.

People with scalp or neck melanomas die at nearly twice the rate of people with melanoma elsewhere on the body, say researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). In contrast, people with melanomas on the extremities, face or ears had the best prognosis.

Although hair may conceal neck and scalp melanomas, the researchers’ analysis of 51,704 U.S. melanoma cases suggests that it’s the location of the skin cancer that’s particularly deadly, not late detection. Researcher Dr. Nancy Thomas, associate professor of dermatology in the UNC School of Medicine, says she’ll be “looking at tumor-cell types in those areas at the molecular level…to see if there are differences.”

To reduce your risk, use the Canadian Cancer Society’s SunSense guidelines, and examine your skin regularly using the Canadian Dermatology Association’s Spot Check data.

I’m fair and freckly, so I use SPF 45 religiously. But I rarely wear a hat. (That’s gotta change!) What about you?