STAR WATCH
A Fighter Takes On Skin Cancer
War hero, senator, presidential hopeful — John McCain has been all three. But he’s also a survivor of melanoma.
By Tom Nugent
After ruling out a 2004 presidential bid, John McCain’s now looking forward to “spreading the word” about skin cancer. Yet the Arizona Republican is the first to point out that his toughest challenge didn’t take place in politics.
Since 1993, Sen.McCain has fought the most invasive, life-threatening form of skin cancer — melanoma. He’s had surgery three times to remove growths from his shoulder, arm and temple. Last treated in mid-2002, Sen. McCain says he’s been cancer-free since.
Like 50,000 Americans a year, Sen. McCain says, he was “surprised and frightened” by the diagnosis of melanoma, a sun-related disorder that kills one out of five victims. But he’s nothing if not a fighter — and he quickly learned about his disease.
“There’s no doubt that I’ve been extremely fortunate in surviving skin cancer,” says the 67-year-old war hero. “What helped me the most, I’m sure, was that I’d been getting regular skin examinations during my annual checkups — so that when the cancer finally appeared, the doctors caught it very early.
“If you can detect melanoma early in the progression of the illness, you stand an excellent chance of beating it. In my case, I was well aware that exposure to sunlight in childhood — along with repeatedly experiencing severe sunburns as an adult — are the two biggest risk factors for this kind of skin cancer.”
Fair-skinned, blue-eyed and easily sun burned, Sen. McCain was a prime candidate for melanoma. The rate of the disease rises in light-skinned males starting around age 65. But the odds against him grew longer during captivity in North Vietnam, where he had to spend days in the blistering tropical sun.
In early 2002, Sen. McCain had a cancerous lesion removed from the left side of his nose. The lesion was diagnosed as the earliest form of melanoma. Since his diagnosis, John McCain has become “a real fanatic” about yearly skin exams. He urges them most of all for the older, fair-skinned males most likely to come down with melanoma. (Two other types of skin cancer, basal cell and squamous cell, are more common but rarely lethal.)
“I’m delighted to tell you that I’m healthy today, and that’s because I have regular skin examinations and a wife who closely monitors any changes. I’m also pleased that my own experience has helped to increase awareness of this disease and the importance of detection.”
Sen. McCain recently launched a bid for a fourth term. After ruling out a 2004 presidential bid, he says he’ll have “more time to spread the word” about skin cancer.
“One of my constituents wrote me a letter recently thanking me for speaking out on this subject,” Sen. McCain says. “He said he was convinced that early detection had saved his life.When you get a letter like that, it stays with you.”
TOO MUCH SUN RAISES YOUR RISK FOR CANCER
“Medical research has shown clearly that overexposure to sunlight is by far the biggest single risk factor for developing skin cancer,” says Dr. Flood, medical director of Arizona’s Cancer Registry. New research suggests the risk rises if you’re sunburned at a very early age.
“Many physicians now recommend that parents of kindergarten and preschool children make sure to provide them with protective clothing and sunscreen lotion before letting them play outdoors in the summertime.”
Key skin-cancer risk factors include:
“We studied melanoma in Arizona between 1995 and 1998 and found the highest incidence rate in white men 65 and older,” says Dr. Flood. Men’s rate rises steadily with age.
Avoiding sunlight, wearing protective clothing and using lotion help shield you. But early detection is vital. “Yearly skin examinations can provide early detection, especially among men over age 65,” Dr. Flood says.
Between exams, check your skin regularly for changes or growth in moles or freckles and for new growths. Ask a friend or relative to look at areas you can’t see.
U.S. Sen. John McCain spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war after the North Vietnamese shot down his Navy jet over Hanoi in 1967. Later, he earned a name for courage and tenacity in the Senate. And in 2000, he gave George W. Bush quite a run for the presidential nomination.
AP/Wide World Photos
Physicians warned that he was vulnerable, so he stayed vigilant. Between checkups, he and wife Cindy examined his skin for signs of cancer. Among them: pronounced changes in warts and freckles and multicolored, irregularly shaped new growths on his skin.When the tumors were found — in 1993, 2000 and 2002 — doctors took them off through simple surgical procedures.
AP/Wide World Photos
Skin cancer attacks more than a million Americans a year and kills about 10,000. Yet the best defense is simple, says Tim Flood, M.D.
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