Melanoma in adulthood can be reduced by the consistent use of sunscreen in childhood -
The research at the Biomedical Research Institute of Texas published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Pigment cell and melanoma , established unequivocally in a natural animal model that the incidence of malignant melanoma in adulthood can be significantly reduced by the use constant sunscreen in infancy and childhood.
according to lead author John L. VandeBerg, Ph.D., the research was motivated by the fact that despite the increasing use of sunscreen during the past decades, the incidence malignant melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer, continues to rise dramatically. The American Cancer Society estimates that over 75,000 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in the US this year.
"Although sunscreen is highly effective at preventing sunburn, this paradox has led some to wonder if the sunscreen is effective in preventing melanoma caused by ultraviolet (UV)" , VandeBerg said. "It has been suggested that sunscreen allows people to receive UV more exposure without being burned by the sun, and that increased exposure to UV light has led to a rising incidence of melanoma."
Questions regarding the efficacy of sunscreen remained without reply in part because, until recently, no model natural mammalian melanoma UV-induced existed, VandeBerg noted. Scientists at Texas Biomedical Research Institute established the gray short-tailed opossum, a small marsupial from South America, such as model and tested a lotion over-the-counter face containing SPF15 sunscreen to her ability to prevent UV-induced melanoma.
Texas Biomed researchers found that the application of the lotion containing sunscreen to infant opossums led to a 10-fold reduction in pre-melanoma lesions (known to progress to melanoma), in compared with infants receiving opossums lotion that did not contain sunscreen. This difference in lesion development occurred even when low doses of UV light have been applied -. So low that they caused no sunburn or even skin reddening in opossums that do not receive sunscreen
The pre-melanoma lesions did not appear until the children were became teenagers (equivalent to the first teenagers in humans), and previous experiences have shown that pre-melanocytic lesions in opossums are not progressing melanoma until the animals are in adulthood, as usually happens in humans.
"on the basis of these results, we believe that the reason why it is particularly important that sunscreens are used consistently in childhood, especially in childhood, is because skin cells during the growth divide much more rapidly than in adults, and it is during cell division that cells are more sensitive to damage induced by UV, "said VandeBerg. "The evidence that supports this hypothesis is that melanoma is not induced in adult possums when their shaved skin is irradiated with UV light in the absence of a sunscreen."
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