 | | | | Related Healthscout Videos | |
|
(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Men are more likely to develop certain skin cancers than women. While more exposure and less sunscreen may be a factor, new research reveals men and women react differently to the sun.
Researchers from Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus report mouse studies show sunburned skin reacts differently depending on gender. Females have a more active immune system response than males, which researchers theorize means female skin can repair cancer-causing DNA damage better than male skin.
Text Continues Below
In the lab, male mice and female mice were exposed to UVB light, the most damaging rays in the sun's light spectrum. After the light exposure, the skin of the male mice had a weaker inflammatory response and lower levels of antioxidants than the skin of the female mice. Also, male mice developed skin cancer tumors sooner and more frequently than female mice, despite identical sun exposure. Tumors found on the male mice were also more likely to be aggressive and larger than tumors found on female mice.
Study authors write more research needs to be done to confirm these findings, but the research does give more insight into gender differences in the development of cancer and other diseases.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Cancer Research, published online April 1, 2007
|
.gif)
