That was practically the mantra at the Junior Auxiliary's skin cancer forum held at the Brookhaven Recreation Department Monday night.

"They have a rule - if it looks funny, it needs to come off," said Dr. Burnett Hanson as he addressed the crowd of men and women of all ages.

Hanson and Dr. Michael Peavey spoke to the group, answering their questions and telling them how to detect warning signs of various kinds of cancer.

"Unfortunately we treat a lot of skin cancer because we have a generation that didn't understand how skin cancer was derived," Hanson said. "Unfortunately I also think we have another generation who doesn't understand that either."

Hanson talked about the three main types of skin cancers: basal cell carcinoma, melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma, which is the most deadly. He stressed that if the appearance of a mole or freckle seems to change in symmetry, border, color or diameter, it's time to have it looked at.

In addition, he said, melanoma is the most common cancer in young adults ages 25-29, and is second only to breast cancer in women ages 30-35.

"It increases 4 percent per year, and there is one melanoma death in this country per hour," he said.

Most importantly, the two doctors stressed the hazards of extended sun exposure, even if a person is not worried about skin cancer.

"Sunburn actually damages your skin," Hanson said. "It causes wrinkles too. How much money do people spend on Botox? All you have to do is not be in the sun."

But more than that, Hanson said, people don't seem to understand that tanning is the body's response to a skin injury.

"Every time you tan, you accumulate that damage to the skin as well as accelerating the aging process," he said. "Tanning is pretty ridiculous if you're planning on living to be an old person."

Peavey agreed.

"If you don't take home any other message from tonight, take this home: Use sun protection, don't get sunburned, and go to the doctor," he said, adding that doctors use radiation to kill cancer cells, and the sun's radiation, in the same way, is killing skin cells.

Junior Auxiliary members were excited about the turnout for the event, saying the event held information that could help people of all ages.

"We're very excited for the turnout, and we're glad everyone came out on a Monday afternoon with the fair going on to find out about saving your life or that of someone you know," said JA member Lori Carter.