Health & Medicine - Posted by Futurity-Jenny Leonard on Monday, June 22, 2009 15:21 - 4 Comments 
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(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Sun-damaged patches linked to variety of skin cancers
Rough patches on the skin, known as actinic keratoses, caused by too much exposure to the sun can turn into a greater variety of skin cancers than doctors had thought. (Credit: NASA)
Rough patches on the skin, known as actinic keratoses, caused by too much exposure to the sun can turn into a greater variety of skin cancers than doctors had thought. (Credit: NASA)
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The text of this article by Futurity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License.
BROWN (US)—Scaly skin lesions caused by sun damage can lead to more forms of skin cancer than doctors previously thought, according to a new study.
Lead author Martin Weinstock, professor of dermatology and community health at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School, and researchers from Veterans Administration medical centers in Providence and Oklahoma City looked at 169 patients who had a high risk for skin cancers.
They, in turn, were among 1,131 patients from multiple cities who took part in a chemotherapy prevention trial. Most had at least one of the lesions, actinic keratosis, on their body. Combined, they had about 7,784 of the lesions on their faces and ears. There were up to six years of follow-up to quantify the risk of progression of actinic keratoses to cancer.
Two-thirds of the patients who had developed a treatable skin cancer, squamous-cell carcinomas, could trace their cancer to actinic keratoses. One-third of patients who ended up with basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer in the United States, could trace their cancers to actinic keratoses.
Scientists had not previously connected basal cell cancers to the lesions.
They also found that the actinic keratoses come and go, becoming invisible and resurfacing over time, posing a challenge for doctors because the lesions often were not visible during follow-up visits.
The research reinforces the need for skin cancer prevention, Weinstock says. Scientists estimate that 40 million people in the United States alone have some form of actinic keratoses. Preventative removal of the lesions costs more than $1 billion annually. Research is under way, Weinstock says, to determine if one of the treatments for actinic keratoses will be effective in preventing skin cancers.
Researchers from Rhode Island Hospital and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit also contributed to the study. The research, highlighted in the current edition of Cancer, is supported by the Office of Research and Development R&D Service, Department of Veterans Affairs.
Brown University news: http://news.brown.edu
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4 Comments
Rodan and Fields Muti-Med Therapy
I personally am concerned about sun damaged skin. I spent way too much time in the sun and tanning when i was a teenager, thinking that is was a way to look healthy….
p r mcconnell
help:
On 11/2 my wife said you had an article on cosmetics (creams, lotions, potions etc) and their health risks. I’m unable to find reference to it on your paper’s e-site. Can you help me find the article so we can make notes regarding different products?
Hello. I’m the editor of Futurity and I don’t recall seeing that article on the site. You can browse content by tags and date, or use the keyword search option at the top of each page. Let me know if you need more information.
I personally am concerned about sun damaged skin. I spent way too much time in the sun and tanning when i was a teenager, thinking that is was a way to look healthy.