She cited a comprehensive study by investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, who concluded that the odds of developing a noncutaneous second primary malignancy were 27% greater in individuals with a history of NMSC than in those without such a history. The increased risk was statistically significant for 26 types of noncutaneous cancer, consistent in both men and women, and the younger a patient’s age at onset of NMSC, the stronger the association with noncutaneous cancers (Adv Cancer Res. 2016;130:257-91).
In a separate systematic review by some of the same investigators, patients with a history of squamous cell carcinoma were at a 30% increased risk of all-cause mortality and 117% greater cancer-specific mortality than those without a history of the disease. The associations were less potent for basal cell carcinoma (Arch Dermatol Res. 2017 May;309[4]:243-51).
“You are more likely to die of your nonskin cancer if you’ve ever had a skin cancer, regardless of what that other cancer is. This may mean that once you have a skin cancer, maybe that proves you have poor protoplasm that makes you more prone to other cancers, but even if that’s the case I think it demonstrates that nonmelanoma skin cancer has a substantial contribution to morbidity and mortality outside of what we normally think about,” Dr. Van Beek said.
Another underappreciated aspect of the burden of NMSC is what economists call lost opportunity cost. This isn’t the direct medical cost, but work time missed because of disease. In 2013, according to the AAD Burden of Skin Disease report, melanoma was responsible for $88 million worth of lost productivity, while for NMSC, the figure was $376 million.