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Since the days of Driver's Ed, we've been conditioned to buckle up and check our mirrors before driving a car.
But should applying sunscreen on a sunny day be added to our pre-departure regimen?
One recent study supports the idea in certain situations, especially for those who hit the road with the windows down or often drive when sunlight beams through side windows.
After examining roughly 85,000 cases of malignant melanoma and Merkel cell carcinoma in U.S. patients from 1986 to 2006, dermatologists and scientists found these potentially fatal cancers occurred more often on the left side of patients' faces and arms than the right.
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With driver's seats positioned in the left side of cars, the research suggests the trend can be traced back to drivers receiving more exposure to UV radiation on the left sides of their bodies while driving.
In the sample, 52 percent of melanoma patients developed the cancer on the left side of their bodies, while almost 48 percent had the condition on the right side. For Merkel cell carcinoma, approximately 53 percent of cases developed on the left side compared to around 47 percent on the right.
Though the difference seems small, it was statistically significant, meaning left-sided cancers occurred more frequently than by chance. Left-side trends were also seen more in men, but the results were less pronounced.
Though the findings are intriguing, researchers were unable to track patients' exposure to sun over the years. It's also difficult to be sure that driving was the primary culprit in all cases. In addition, the team only used cases in which skin cancers were attributable to one side of the body. In other words, a person with cancer in the middle of his chest was not included in the sample.
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Weaknesses aside, the findings could hold true for many patients. With this knowledge, people working in travel-intensive professions such as truck driving might benefit from the added protection of sunscreen, especially if they enjoy driving with the window down.
Also, since car windows do not shield drivers from all UV rays -- some UVA rays still penetrate through, it's not a bad idea to have sunscreen handy, notably if you feel you're getting burned.
Other research tackled whether skin cancer asymmetry exists, but the evidence wasn't as strong.
Similar results have popped up abroad, too. Researchers in Australia, where driver seats are positioned on the right side of vehicles, posed the same question and discovered similar results on the right side of patients' bodies.
Tags: Cancer
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