Sunday, April 06, 2008
Research
The following is a transcript of a report by medical editor Marilyn Brooks that first aired March 29, 2007, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.
As weather conditions continue to stay warm, people are bound to hear warnings about skin cancer that come around this time of year, because skin cancer cases continue to climb.
But could sex have anything to do with skin cancer?
Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer after basal cell. There are about 200,000 new cases in the U.S. every year, and scientists said sex might determine the risk.
Gary Rasor has spent more than 20 years working outside. Like most men, he has paid little attention to what the sun was doing to his skin.
"I did not think about it at all, did not wear any sunscreen or did not wear a hat or a visor or anything," said Rasor.
And the sun took its toll on him.
Rasor has had dozens of tumors removed from his skin. But his outdoor work habits are just part of the problem.
Researchers said the more critical factor is that Rasor is a man.
"We found that males actually got tumors about two weeks earlier than the females, and the tumors they did get were larger," said Dr. Tatiana Oberyszyn. "There were more of them."
Oberyszyn has studied non-melanoma skin cancers for years. Acting on a hunch about gender-related variables in skin cancer, she designed a study in which mice were exposed to sun three times a week for 16 weeks.
She found female mice were more likely to sunburn, but males not only developed tumors earlier than females, the tumors were larger and more aggressive.
But why?
For some reason, the males don't retain as many antioxidants, which help prevent tumor formation.
"What it suggests is that when we're treating male and female skin in terms of protections against non-melanoma skin cancers, we actually may need to treat them differently," said Oberyszyn.
For example, there may one day be female sunscreens with more anti-inflammatory ingredients to heal sun damage. Male versions might have more antioxidants to protect against tumors.
Until scientists can figure out the difference, they advise everyone to lather up, cover up and limit your sun exposure.
The next thing those researchers are going to do is see if the same holds true in humans. They hope to launch a test on men and women in the near future to see if sex plays a role in skin cancer in people too.