According to research by Queensland University, skin with very little or no blemishes or freckles may have underlying sun-damaged DNA alterations. These alterations may induce cancer.
“We took skin samples from the forearms of 37 skin cancer patients who were frequently sun exposed. They had an average of 4-5 times more mutations in normal-looking skin compared to similar studies overseas. The higher mutation levels are likely due to Australia having 2-4 times higher levels of ultraviolet light than the United Kingdom and Europe,” Ms. Ho Yi Wong, Lead author.
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Researchers at UQ’s Fraser Institute Dermatology Research Center investigated the association between the number of mutations found in “normal-looking” skin and the number of previous skin cancers in a person.
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“The findings also suggest that reducing mutation levels in normal-looking skin could reduce the risk of new skin cancers. We found laser treatments and dermabrasion can ‘wipe away’ skin mutations and reduce the risk of skin cancer, but this approach does not apply to everyone. In addition, lasers and dermabrasion are difficult and expensive to implement at a large scale, which is why other therapies are needed. Our next step is to explore therapies that can reduce the load of skin mutations.” Informs Professor Khosrotehrani, the Senior author.