Top 3 most common skin cancer in Singapore

Skin cancer in Singapore is always one of the top 10 skin cancers. It is usually ranked number 5 and number 6 in Singapore, so the risk is there for us Singaporeans. These are the three most common skin cancers that you see in Singapore. You have BCC, Basal Cell Cancer. You have SCC Squamous Cell Cancer, and you have Melanoma.
So we did a study looking at, is it true that Singaporeans have skin cancer, because everyone thinks that skin cancer is actually not an Asian problem. It's more like, you know, your Caucasians, your ang mohs. So it's not true. You can see that BCC, Basal Cell Cancer is the most common across all races. Chinese have a higher risk because they are a bit fairer so you can imagine the dark the darker skin population has a more natural sunscreen in them.

So, who suffers more men or women? Certain things predispose men to get more skin cancers. Historically, men are doing more outdoor jobs, doing things under the sun like driving, or construction work. So daily accumulation of sunlight is a risk factor.

In Asia, you can get moles quite commonly, until the age of 40. But if you get a new mole out of the norm, in above age 40, you got to be more careful, because moles don't develop out of the norm.
This is what cancers usually look like. You have those that are very black, and those that are very red. So it's quite scary. Like, is this mole worth to see a doctor for?

Certain things that will alarm you is,

• If you suddenly get a new mole after age 40, that’s one.
• If you find that a mole is growing quite quickly, within every 6 months, it seems to be growing a little bit by a little bit.
• Other features you can look out for is painful, because most moles have no pain. Painful lesions are worth investigating.
• And the last one is if it's bleeding. Most moles don't bleed. If the thing bleeds on its own, you also got to be a bit careful.

So what do you do to protect yourself?

1. So avoid excessive sunlight, if you can. Singapore is really, really hot after 10am to 4pm so try to avoid those period of time. If you want to exercise, I recommend exercising very early in the day, when it's not so hot, from 6am to 10am, and then after 5pm where the intensity of sun is not so high.
2. You should wear sunscreen. SPF is a number to guide you how much to go. As a rule of thumb, anything above 30 is fine. 50 is great.