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MOREHEAD CITY -- It never fails to create a laugh at the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament. Fishermen wearing sunglasses bring in a blue marlin. As they pose for the cameras, one of the photographers asks the members of the crew to take off their sunglasses. But Dr. Jose Acostamadiedo, an Instructor of Internal Medicine/Section on Hematology Oncology at Wake Forest University and a mate on the Hammer Time, sees something else. So Acostamadiedo, combining his love of science and fishing, created the "Catch Cancer… Before It's Too Late" program in association with the World Billfish Series and the American Cancer Society. "What were doing is screening for melanoma amongst fishermen. We've been doing it at the Big Rock at the parties. We did it at the Saturday party and at the Wednesday Wahoo and we're going to do it at the awards ceremony," said Acostamadiedo, a medical advisor for the World Billfish Series. "We've actually found some. We screened 18 people (last) Saturday and we detected three cancers and one dysplastic nevus that was going to turn into melanoma. And (Wednesday) we picked up another early stage of dysplastic nevus." Most often, repeated exposure to the sun creates skin cancer. Melanoma cases increased in recent history, during the Great Depression, 1 in 1,500 Americans developed the disease in their lifetime. Now it's much more. "The incidence of melanoma in the U.S. population is just 1 in 74 right now," said Acostamadiedo. "Fishermen and people that have chronic exposure to the sun are at the most risk, like captains and mates." In 2001, 7,800 people will die of melanoma in the United States. Experts predict 51,400 cases of melanoma this year. "On the data we have right now, we're at 1 in 18 (among fishermen). It is well known by the American Cancer Society and the American Academy of Dermatology that screening the whole population is not cost-effective or feasible, but screening a high-risk population is the way to do it, so I came up with doing the fishing community and it's already paid off." In addition to checking anglers at the Big Rock, Acostamadiedo will screen for melanoma at the Ducks Unlimited Tournament and Pirates' Cove Tournament.
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