Sun safety and cancer treatment

Being outside and active is part of a healthy lifestyle. Sunlight helps our bodies make vitamin D. This is important for strong bones and teeth, and it reduces the risk of some illnesses.

However, you should protect your skin from too much sunlight. Exposure to ultraviolet light (UV light) from the sun is the main cause of skin cancer.

After cancer treatment, you may need to be extra careful in the sun. Some cancer treatments make your skin more sensitive. Your skin may burn more easily. Or you may have a higher risk of developing skin cancer.

Clothing, hat and sunglasses

• Wear clothing made of a close-weave fabric. This will give you more protection against the sun. Keep your arms and legs covered by wearing long-sleeved tops and trousers. Wear a wide-brimmed hat to protect your face, neck and ears.
• Wear sunglasses with wide wraparound lenses or wide arms. Sunglasses with the most protection for your eyes have either: a CE mark   or the British Standards Institution Kitemark^TM

Shade

• Stay in the shade when you can – especially between 11am and 3pm, when the sun is strongest.
• The best protection is to cover up and to stay out of direct sunlight. There is no such thing as a safe suntan.

Suncream, sunscreen or sunblock

• Use a suncream, sunscreen or sunblock with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 50, or at least 30, whenever you are exposed to the sun for a period of time. Follow the instructions on the bottle and re-apply it as recommended. Usually, the instructions say to re-apply every 2 hours, or more often if you have been swimming or exercising.
• Choose a product that protects against ultraviolet A radiation (UVA) and ultraviolet B radiation (UVB) – for example, a suncream with a 4-star UVA rating that is SPF 30 or above.
• Make sure you use enough. About 6 to 8 teaspoons of suncream is enough to cover most adults. For example, use 1 teaspoon for each limb, 1 for the front of your chest, 1 for your back, and 1 for your head and neck.
• Do not use suncream, sunscreen or sunblock instead of covering up or staying in the shade.

Download our infographic: Sun safety [PDF, 2MB]

During and after some types of cancer treatment, it is especially important to take care of your skin.

Sun safety and chemotherapy

Some chemotherapy drugs may make you more sensitive to the sun. Your skin may burn more easily during treatment and for several months after. Depending on the treatments you have had, you may have a higher risk of developing some types of skin cancer. Your cancer team can give you more information about this.

You can search for information about specific drugs in our treatment and drugs A to Z. Or visit the electronic medicines compendium (emc) to find detailed information about different drugs.

Sun safety and other cancer drugs

Other types of cancer drugs may also make you more sensitive to the sun or increase your risk of developing some types of skin cancer. Your skin may burn more easily during treatment and for several months after. Your cancer team can give you more information about this.

You can search for information about specific drugs in our treatment and drugs A to Z. Or visit the electronic medicines compendium (emc) to find detailed information about different drugs.

Sun safety and radiotherapy

Radiotherapy can cause a skin reaction in the area being treated. If this happens, it usually begins after about 10 days of starting treatment. Skin reactions can take time to improve. They are usually better about 4 weeks after your treatment has finished.

During and after your treatment, you should protect the skin in the treated area from strong sunshine. Longer term, the treated area of skin may be more sensitive and burn more easily. You may also have a higher risk of developing a skin cancer in the treated area.

Your radiographer can give you more information about this. They will give you advice about looking after your skin.

Sun safety after skin cancer treatment

Once you have had a skin cancer, you have a higher risk of developing it again in the same area. This is called a recurrence. You are also more at risk of developing another one somewhere else on your skin.

Your doctor or specialist nurse will explain what the risks are in your situation and give you information about:

• how to check your skin
• how often to check your skin
• symptoms to be aware of.

People who have had a skin cancer in the past are usually given information about checking their skin regularly. We have more information about checking your skin after melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.

If you have a weakened immune system

Some health conditions and treatments can weaken the immune system. This is the system that protects your body from infection and disease.

If the body’s immune system is weakened over a very long period of time, you may have a higher risk of developing skin cancer. For example, you may have a higher risk of developing skin cancer if you have:

• had a kidney, liver, heart or lung transplant and take drugs that lower your immunity (immunosuppressants)
• HIV or HPV
• some types of blood cancer, such as chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL).

We want everyone affected by cancer to feel our information is written for them.

We want our information to be as clear as possible. To do this, we try to:

• use plain English
• explain medical words
• use short sentences
• use illustrations to explain text
• structure the information clearly
• make sure important points are clear.

We use gender-inclusive language and talk to our readers as ‘you’ so that everyone feels included. Where clinically necessary we use the terms ‘men’ and ‘women’ or ‘male’ and ‘female’. For example, we do so when talking about parts of the body or mentioning statistics or research about who is affected.

You can read more about how we produce our information here.