Journal of Dermatological Science 19 (1999) 161 – 165 Skin cancer screening in Okinawa, Japan Tohru Nagano a , Masato Ueda a , Takaaki Suzuki a , Kazuhiro Naruse a , Takashi Nakamura a , Masahito Taguchi b , Keishi Araki a , Kouichi Nakagawa a , Hiroshi Nagai a , Kazuhiro Hayashi a , Shaw Watanabe b , Masamitsu Ichihashi a, * a Department of Dermatology, Kobe Uniersity School of Medicine, 7 -5 -1 Kusunoki -Cho, Chuo -Ku, Kobe, 650 -0017, Japan b Cancer Information and Epidemiology Diision, National Cancer Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan Received 19 August 1998; received in revised form 5 October 1998; accepted 5 October 1998 Abstract Depletion of the ozone layer has been observed on a global scale. Ozone depletion increases the amount of biologically harmful solar ultraviolet radiation (UV) that reaches the surface of the Earth, leading to an increased incidence of skin cancer. We previously reported the prevalence and incidence of actinic keratosis (AK) in Kasai City, which is located almost at the center of Japan. To evaluate the effects of different ambient annual UV doses on the prevalence and incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer and AK in Japan, we screened for skin cancer on Ie Island in Okinawa at the southern end of Japan, where the annual cumulative dose of UV is assumed to be the highest in Japan. The island had a population of 5562 in 1993. A prospective 4-year population-based study on the prevalence and incidence of cutaneous neoplasms was conducted by examining the sun-exposed skin of people over 40 years of age living on Ie Island. In 1993–1996, 86 cases of AK, nine of basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and two of squamous cell carcinoma were identified. The annual prevalence of AK on Ie Island was 1159.4 in 1993, 572.8 in 1994, 1014.3 in 1995 and 988.9 per 100000 Japanese in 1996. These values were significantly higher than those in Kasai City. The annual age-adjusted odds ratios for AK of Ie Island to Kasai City were 2.79, 1.38, 2.45 and 2.39, respectively. The incidences of AK on Ie Island per 100000 were 637.0 in 1995 and 625.5 in 1996, which were also significantly higher than those in Kasai City (223.6 in 1993 and 171.2 in 1994). The prevalence of BCC was 123.6 and the incidence was 26.1. Together with our previous reports, the present results show a possible inverse relationship between the prevalence and incidence of AK and latitude among Japanese people. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Skin cancer; Screening; Okinawa; Ultraviolet light * Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 78 3417451; fax: +81 78 3822497; e-mail: ichihash@med.kobe-u.ac.jp 0923-1811/99/$ - see front matter © 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. PII S0923-1811(98)00059-0