Skin cancer and drum corps

[jacquesb]

I have a fairly dark complexion and dark hair, and I marched for 2 full years in Div I in the 80's, plus the typical high school and college band experience. I was not a consistent user of sun block because I usually would tan quickly and rarely burn.

I've had a number of "precancerous" or "abnormal" moles removed from my back and side over the past 10 years, and I have made a habit of annual visits to the dermatologist. A few weeks ago I had him look at some areas on my nose that were bothering me. The biopsies came back with a diagnosis of Basal Cell Carcinoma. I had the first one successfully removed with Mohs surgery yesterday, and the other's coming off next week.

[ajlisko]

Hello Former Corp Members!!

I am a physician working at the Kaiser Deer Valley Dermatology Department in Antioch, California. Many years ago I marched with the Anaheim Kingsmen (1982). Since then I have remained interested in drum and bugle corp especially since the Blue Devils are local. One question I have thought about. Does all the sun exposure we get while marching and drilling lead to a higher incidence skin cancer?. If the hypothesis is true, then more aggressive sun protection may help future generations of drum corp performers.

I would be interested in hearing from ex- corp members who are in their 30's or above. If you do have a history of skin cancer or precancerous skin lesions let me know and tell me your experiences (anonymously is okay). If I get enough responders I'm considering doing a formal survey to get better statistics.

Thanks much and hope to hear from you.

Lance Gee MD

Concord, CA

lance.a.gee@kp.org

Started my drum corps career in 58 ... heavy duty drill reheasals as a teen in the 60's ... but, they were all at dusk or in the evening during the week ... time in the sun was weekend camps and the day of the show ... having to sling a drum pretty much meant "don't get a shoulder burn stupid! ... LOL ... all we had in those days was Noxema for after you were burnt ... and Coppertone to color your skin ... I guess the only time we rehearsed out in the sun every day was on the trips out to and back from Nationals ... usually one or two weeks ... even in Sr. corps (Sky - late 60's - early 70's), rehearsals were on Friday night and the day of the show ... plenty of opportunity to get burned but, no worse than a good "beach day" ... HAHA ... now as I zoom in on 60, a few "sun spots" on the face but, no abnormal skin condition shows up in body screenings ... I would imagine today's DCI kids face a lot more exposure to risk due to their months long tours but, then again, they have a lot more protection available to them ...

Hope this helps ...

Andy

[LanceG]

I'd be curious to see how you design your control population on this one as well as your variables on outcomes: 'normal' statistical population, drum corps v nondrum corps people, total exposure times, regional....lots to consider and plenty of opportunity to learn. I'd like to see you go ahead with the survey.

over 50 here, 'olive' skinned and no apparent skin abnormalities - but I wonder if I should get checked. 30+ years of drum corp. wife approaching 'that age', less than 10 years of active drum corps, fair skinned, some benign lesions removed over the years.

Thanks for the inquiry. Your right, how do you find a control population - ?indoor musicians, marching band. One thing will be interesting is which part of the corp gets affected most - color guard, drum line, bugles, etc. Lance

[Dale Lofgren]

I marched in drumlines in the 1970s (Kingsmen and SCV) and am primarily Swedish heritage-wise. I had a facial basal removed over 15 years ago. I remember the dermatologist being very surprised that I had had a basal so young. I also had a squamous removed from the left arm two years ago. I usually have a few pre-cancers frozen off 2 xs a year. Loads of fun! I always joke around that when I die, I am going to ask God, "What's the deal with the sun and teeth?" in a Jerry Seinfeld kind of way!

The one thing you do want your dermatologist to say when you are in the office is, "How long have you had that?"

Edited October 18, 2008 by Dale Lofgren

[byline]

I'm of Irish/English ancestry and had three pre-cancerous spots frozen this year . . . yay! I've got all the wrong skin for sun overexposure, and ironically I never was much of a sun worshiper in high school or university (when everyone else was out sunbathing). But I did the drum corps/marching band gig for years and years and got sunburnt, sometimes quite badly, many times, so the damage is done. I used to think the only thing I needed to watch was anything that looked like a mole; those have the potential to become melanomas. However, there are other growths linked to the less dangerous basal and squamous cell carcinomas. But because they can eventually lead to skin cancer, they also need to be monitored.

You actually feel these spots before you see them. They're tiny (about the size of a pinhead), slightly raised rough patches. When they start acting up, they turn a pinkish-red and look sort of like a pimple, except they don't heal. So that's the thing to look for; anything that stays red, has that rough feel and doesn't heal the way it should needs to be checked out. I've had three different spots that have looked that way this year; one on the top of each hand and then another on my forehead. My doctor froze all three, killing that layer of skin cells. Hopefully that takes care of it. But of course there are no guarantees.

One of those "if I knew then what I know now" scenarios. The good thing is that these are very slow-growing, so at least I have plenty of time if I get them taken care of early. The freezing now is mainly a pre-emptive strike.

[ironlips]

Hello Dr. G.

I'm glad to see you collecting some data on this. As my dermatologist, you already know my history, but I have several colleagues whom I will direct to this forum. These folks not only marched from the '60s through the '80s, but also continued as instructors, spending many hours in the sun.

Thanks for taking an interest in the health of the drum corps community.

[Donny Drum Corps]

Starting to notice some bumps where there isnt much pigment. I have vitiligo, and the summers are becoming a little more challenging, for sure.

Going to the derm doc about these bumps though. I cant do much about the pigment loss.

Donny

[Fran Haring]

I had a basal cell skin cancer removed from my lower leg earlier this year.....no problems since.

I really am amazed that after many years of me not wearing sunscreen, or a hat, outdoors (in and out of drum corps) that it was my lower leg... an area I kept covered for the most part.... that would be affected.

I've gotten much better at staying protected from the sun in the past 15 years or so.

Fran

[LanceG]

Starting to notice some bumps where there isnt much pigment. I have vitiligo, and the summers are becoming a little more challenging, for sure.

Going to the derm doc about these bumps though. I cant do much about the pigment loss.

Donny

Thanks for reminding me. People who have vitiligo are at really high risk of developing skin cancers later in those areas because they have NO pigment at all there. We need to be extra careful in our dark skin corp members who have lost their pigment, probably covering those areas wtih clothes should be mandatory.

Lance Gee MD.

[ironlips]

Thanks for reminding me. People who have vitiligo are at really high risk of developing skin cancers later in those areas because they have NO pigment at all there. We need to be extra careful in our dark skin corp members who have lost their pigment, probably covering those areas wtih clothes should be mandatory.

Lance Gee MD.

It seems to me there are at least three distinct populations involved here:

1. Those like Andy Lisko and me who marched in the '60s through early '70s paid little attention to sun protection but our exposure was mitigated by the fact that almost all of our rehearsals were in the evenings and we did very little touring.

2. The next group would consist of performers (and instructors) between about '75 and '85. These folks often rehearsed during the day on tour or in preparation for it. Sun protection for this group was not a major priority for the most part.

3. The corps folks who were active over the past 20 years or so were much more cognizant of skin issues. This is fortunate since their exposure to UV was probably greater than that of their slightly older colleagues in the middle group.

Both DCA and DCI would be well served by a seminar on the latest skin protection techniques, I think.