U.S. Drivers more Likely to Develop Skin Cancers on Left Arm

USA Today

Cruising with the windows down and the wind in their hair is how many people like to drive. But that open feeling could be costly. New research suggests that people in the USA are more likely to develop skin cancer, such as melanoma and merkel cell carcinoma, on the left side of their bodies. Driving may be to blame, because the left arm receives more UV, say researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle, who analyzed cancer cases in a government database They found that when skin cancer occurred on one side of the body, 52% of melanoma cases and 53% of merkel cell carcinomas were on the left side. On the upper arms, 55% of merkel cell cases developed on the left side. The study, published online in April by the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, provides the strongest evidence to date of a left-side bias in skin cancer cases in the USA... Read More