If nothing we’ve ever said in Sun & Skin News has convinced you to practice sun safety, we hope that you won’t have to get skin cancer first. Unfortunately, a recent study shows that many patients start using sun protection only after being operated on for skin cancer.

Scientists led by John S. Rhee, MD, at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, wanted to see if, after being diagnosed, patients tended to correct behaviors including unprotected sun exposure and smoking that are frequently linked to cancer. They interviewed more than 100 nonmelanoma skin cancer patients at three intervals — before surgery, one month after surgery, and three months later. In the first go-round, 49 percent reported using sunscreen; by the third interview, 72 percent had gotten the message. The number of patients who wore hats for sun protection had also grown in that time, and many patients had started skipping “sun-related” activities and avoiding sun exposure altogether from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Previous research had shown that an individual’s motivation for change or compliance can be predicted by perceived susceptibility and severity of illness, and our study bore this out,” said Dr. Rhee.

However, patients who smoked did not reduce their smoking, possibly because they didn’t specifically link it in their minds with their skin cancer problems. (In truth, research has shown a link between smoking and nonmelanoma skin cancer.)

But they did apparently come to understand the connection between sun exposure and skin cancer. “Patients who undergo surgery for nonmelanoma skin cancer may experience levels of anxiety that motivate positive changes in behavior,” Dr. Rhee explained. “We can’t be sure that these positive changes will be long-term, because the period of study was so short, but it was a promising start. We’d like to follow up again in a year or two to see if the changes last.”

And The Skin Cancer Foundation would like to see everybody practicing sun safety daily from childhood on, long before they ever have the chance to develop skin cancer.