Skin Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Skin Cancer, including details on identification, causes, prevention, treatment.

How different wavelengths of the ultraviolet spectrum contribute to skin carcinogenesis: the role of cellular damage responses.

Rünger TM

Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118, USA. truenger@bu.edu

The carcinogenic properties of ultraviolet (UV) light are mediated by its ability to generate DNA damage. Cellular responses to UV-induced DNA damage profoundly modulate the carcinogenic effects of UV exposures, and these responses are wavelength dependent. However, the exact contributions of different wavelengths of UV light to DNA damage, cellular damage responses, mutation, and skin carcinogenesis are incompletely understood. Given that UV-induced apoptosis is a protective cellular response to UV that prevents survival of damaged cells, inhibition of UVB-induced apoptosis by adding UVA, as reported by Ibuki et al. in this issue, may be a mechanism by which UVA augments UVB-mediated mutation and skin cancer formation.

Published 16 August 2007 in J Invest Dermatol, 127(9): 2103-5.
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