Resveratrol To Prevent Skin Cancer

Thousands of people flood to the beaches every summer in the warm, sunny weather despite many warnings of the harmful effects of the sun. Researchers are continually looking for ways to protect the skin from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, specifically the UVB component that causes skin cancer. As a portion of newly diagnosed cancers worldwide, skin cancer accounts for 30 percent and radiation from the sun accounts for ninety percent of all skin cancers.

A study was conducted by the University of Wisconsin to test if resveratrol, an antioxidant found in grape skins and red wine, was an effective treatment to prevent skin damage caused by exposure to UVB rays.
The risk of skin cancer will increase when repeated exposure to UVB radiation occurs, so these researchers tested a topical cream containing resveratrol on the skin of SKH-1 hairless mice that were exposed to UVB rays for seven consecutive days. The cream was applied to their skin thirty minutes prior to UVB exposure. They also conducted a second test where the cream was applied five minutes following exposure. The results of these tests showed a significant reduction in the development of tumors when resveratrol was applied both prior to and following UVB radiation exposure.

They tested how resveratrol affected the survivin, a molecule that is expressed in human cancers, controls cell division, and is part of the inhibitor of apoptosis family. Survivin is found in human cancer cells but not in normal cells, and is the target for many anticancer treatments. This study showed that after a treatment of resveratrol, the levels of survivin protein expression significantly decreased. Resveratrol was shown to protect the skin from UVB damage by causing cancer cells to self-destruct. It also stopped increases in skin thickness caused by UVB radiation.