Caffeine and Exercise Combo may Prevent Skin Cancer

Ivanhoe Newswire

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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- You may want to add a cup of coffee to your workout -- it could rev up your skin cancer protection.

New research from Rutgers University in New Jersey reveals the combination of exercise and low to moderate amounts of caffeine protects against the sun's ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation, which is known to cause skin cancer. The two together seem to kill off precancerous cells, which have DNA that has been damaged by UVB-rays.

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Researchers looked at four groups of hairless mice; one group drank caffeinated water -- the equivalent of one or two cups of coffee a day for humans; one exercised on a running wheel voluntarily; another both drank the water and ran; and the last group did neither. All four groups were exposed to lamps generating UVB radiation to damage the DNA in their skin cells.

Results show there was some degree of programmed cell death -- known as apoptosis -- in the DNA-damaged cells of all the mice, but there was more in the caffeine drinkers and the exercisers. Apoptosis is a way for cells with badly damaged DNA commit suicide, keeping them from turning into cancer.

Study authors write the caffeine-drinking mice had a 95-percent increase in apoptosis in damaged cells, while the exercising mice had a 120-percent increase. The mice in the exercise and caffeine group had an increase of nearly 400-percent.

"We need to dig deeper into how the combination of caffeine and exercise is exerting its influence at the cellular and molecular levels, identifying the underlying mechanisms," study author Allan Conney, Ph.D., from Rutgers University, was quoted as saying. "With an understanding of these mechanisms we can then take this to the next level, going beyond mice in the lab to human trials."

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SOURCE: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online July 30, 2007