Every year, more than 1 million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed in the United States, making it the most common form of cancer, according to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Fortunately, the majority of skin cancers are the less aggressive basal cell carcinomas. But researchers are constantly looking for new treatments to cure the fast-growing and potentially deadly melanoma. Recent studies have shown promising results for both caffeine and exercise as ways to minimize melanoma risk.
Melanoma
According to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, almost half of Americans will grow at least one skin cancer by the age of 65. If you’re in that small percentage who are diagnosed with a melanoma, rather than a less-threatening form of skin cancer, your chances are still good. The survival rate for melanomas caught early is more than 97 percent. Symptoms vary, but include new moles or spots on the skin; changes in the color, shape or size of an existing mole; a sore that won’t heal; a pale, waxy lump; and a small red bump that is crusty or bleeding. If you have any of these symptoms, see a dermatologist immediately.
How Caffeine May Help
Several studies have noted that caffeine seems to protect against developing skin cancers. Allan Conney at Rutgers University’s Department of Chemical Biology has been trying to understand why. His theory is that caffeine molecules suppress a gene called ATR, which helps kill DNA-damaged cells. His experiments with mice support this theory. Conney genetically modified mice to have deficient ATR genes. Over the course of 19 weeks, he flashed enough ultraviolet light on the mice to give them skin cancer. He found that his subjects grew 69 percent fewer tumors than the control group, which had normal ATR genes. Conney concluded that applying caffeine to the skin would inhibit skin cancer caused by sun exposure.
Exercise and Caffeine
Conney conducted another study linking caffeine, melanoma and exercise. He published his findings in the journal “Carcinogenesis” in 2006. Conney divided the mice into four groups. One group drank the equivalent of one to two cups of coffee daily. One group exercised on a wheel. The third group got both exercise and caffeine, and the fourth had neither. Conney found that the group that combined caffeine with exercise had vastly better results than the others, with a rate of up to 400 percent more destruction of the unwanted cells. He reported that the mice voluntarily ran on the wheel up to three miles a day. The exercising mice ate more than the non-exercisers, but weighed the same at their daily weigh-in and had less fat. Conney suspects this smaller amount of body fat might be key.
Body Size and Exercise
A group of researchers from the University of Washington School of Public Health’s Department of Epidemiology, led by Andrew Shors, did an earlier survey correlating exercise with cancer prevention. They published their results in a 2001 issue of “Cancer Causes and Control.” The study consisted of a phone survey with melanoma patients, who were asked about their weight, height, sun exposure history, exercise and dietary habits. They found a correlation between cancer and the tallest and heaviest men, though this did not hold true for women. Both men and women who exercised five to seven days per week had a lower risk of melanoma.
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