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In June 2020 Spot the Dot launched a brand new skin cancer awareness campaign, this time the focus is on sports. We’re not only talking to and about the professional athletes, but about all of us. Maybe you play soccer with your buddies once a week, perhaps you are passionate about road cycling or you rather start every day with yoga at home? Maybe you enjoy a nice walk in nature or you prefer to pump weights in the gym. Some of you might seize every opportunity to surf some waves or go snowboarding on the highest mountains in the world. Some sports might require you to take good care of prevention of skin cancer, other sports might be indoors. The fact is, prevention and detection of skin cancer is relevant for ALL of us.

We started this new campaign with a group of cyclists and an interesting discussion about what is the right thing to do concerning sun protection and enjoying your sports.  We found out there are still many misconceptions around the topic of skin cancer. This conversation was the motivation that led us to start a sports-related skin cancer awareness campaign which goes beyond cycling…. the campaign « Faster Than Skincancer » was born.

We don’t tell you to stay indoors

« We love nothing more than being outdoors and enjoying the sun, whether cycling, running, surfing, skiing or any other type of outdoor pursuit but we want to ensure that people can experience this joy without problems down the line; I launched the foundation after treatment on melanoma myself so I know the risks very well. » – Marije Kruis, Founder of Spot the Dot

We want you all to keep enjoying sports, indoor and outdoor. Nobody wants to spend the entire summer indoors, and indeed some sunshine, below sunburn level, can be good for us, helping the body to create vitamin D and giving many of us a feeling of general wellbeing as we enjoy outdoor summer activities. However, all too often we over-do our sun exposure which can lead to a range of skin problems, the most serious of which include skin cancer. Too much UV radiation from the sun can damage the genetic material (the DNA) in your skin cells. If enough DNA damage builds up over time, it can cause cells to start growing out of control, which can lead to skin cancer.

We do ask you to spot your dots

We ALL have to keep an eye on changes on our skin. Each year more and more people globally are diagnosed with skin cancer. With early detection, the chance of survival is almost 100%, but a melanoma spreads relatively quickly and survival with metastatic melanoma is very limited.

Regular (self) check of the skin is important, but there is still a lot of ignorance about melanoma and especially among young people. They underestimate the dangers of unprotected sunbathing, getting sunburns while doing sports outside and the use tanning beds. They also often do not realize that the skin damage they now incur increases their chances of melanoma and other forms of skin cancer in later life. Make sure you do a regular skin check with a dermatologist or your general practitioner.

Now go and have a look at our campaign website:

www.fasterthanskincancer.org

Photo by Oliver Toman