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Caffeine may prevent skin cancer
Treating the skin with caffeine has been shown to prevent skin cancer in laboratory studies conducted in the Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research at Rutgers' Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy..
"It is not a sun-screening effect, but it's something more than that ? it's a biological effect," said Allan Conney, director of the laboratory. "We may have found a safe and effective way of preventing skin cancer," he said of the discovery
It has been known for a long time that skin cancer is caused predominantly by sunlight. Conney and the team of other researchers in the laboratory explained that while sunscreen use has decreased the risk of skin cancers, we still need additional approaches for skin-cancer prevention in individuals previously exposed to high-dose levels of sunlight.
The research team studied a special strain of hairless mice that had been exposed to ultraviolet B light, placing the mice at risk for tumor formation and skin cancer. After stopping the exposures, the researchers applied caffeine and EGCG, two components of green tea, topically to the skin. Both significantly inhibited cancer formation in the mice but, because caffeine is more stable, it probably will be more useful in topical applications.
One of their earlier studies dealt with caffeine taken orally. Direct skin application, however, can provide more highly concentrated doses and larger overall dosages. "Whether you can give enough orally to be effective in humans is not known," said Conney. "Whether people could ingest that amount without becoming hyperactive is also a real question mark."
The study also reported the highly selective action of both caffeine and EGCG in killing cancer cells. Adjacent normal skin cells were not affected.
The researchers do anticipate human clinical trials in the near future but, "for now," said Conney, "if you are a mouse, it would be terrific. In people, we just don't know yet."
The Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research
The Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy
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