Melanoma International Foundation
In 2003, The Melanoma International Foundation or MIF, was started by Catherine Poole, a melanoma survivor and patient advocate of 19 years. Catherine is the author of Melanoma Prevention, Detection and Treatment with DuPont Guerry, MD, who headed Penn’s Melanoma Program (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998, Revised 2005.) Ms. Poole decided to write the book because there was no where to turn during her scary bout with melanoma during her pregnancy.
After completing the book, many patients called on Ms. Poole for advice. She started a hotline, email response system and now a new moderated forum (http://www.melanomaforum.org) where patients and families can safely ask questions and get answers they can trust. This became the backbone of the MIF’s mission: helping patients and their families understand their diagnosis and get the best possible treatment.
MIF is also focused on early detection. When melanoma is found early it is 90% curable with simple outpatient treatment. The Melanoma International Foundation provides free screenings at its annual awareness event, Safe From The Sun, in Seattle, and at Villanova University as well as 22 new localities from coast to coast this year. Most people find their own melanomas, so MIF teaches how to perform a skin self examination and examine their loved ones at company lunch time programs and at civic organizations. MIF’s website has a 2 minute video that can teach people how to examine their skin as well: http://www.melanomaintl.org/minfo_examine.asp
Melanoma kills one person each hour. It is the leading cancer killer of young women and more prevalent than breast cancer in women ages 26-29. It is the easiest cancer to screen for, but the least physician screened for cancer. It is increasing at a faster rate than any other cancer probably due to our cultural preference that a tan looks good and the prevalence of tanning parlors. One out of three teens go to tanning parlors in which 15 minutes provide as much dangerous exposure as a full day at the beach. Also, approximately 80% of our children are sunburned each summer. This too will keep the melanoma rates climbing.
Melanoma is not a priority by any of the major cancer organizations including the National Cancer Institute or the American Cancer Society. MIF hopes to change that and raise the priority of melanoma prevention, early detection and treatment among the major funding agencies for research. We also are helping to get legislation passed to ban all youth from tanning salons.
This May, Safe from the Sun is back! Our emphasis is family fun with a serious side of melanoma screening for early detection and the support of those fighting melanoma as well as honoring those we’ve lost. Philadelphia Safe from the Sun will again take place in the pavilion at Villanova University, SATURDAY May 10th, 2008:
- 9am - Registration Begins, Skin Screening Opens, Health & Wellness Expo Opens
- 10am - Kids Dash; 10:30am - 2 Mile Walk, 5K Run
- 11am - Awards Ceremony
To register for the Philadelphia event, go to: http://www.safefromthesun.org
For more information about skin cancer, please see the PhillyHealthInfo.org Skin Cancer section.