Saturday, April 16, 2011

How Does Sunscreen Help to Prevent Skin Cancer?

The prevention of Melanoma skin cancer is a major goal because it is the most lethal skin cancer among all other major types of skin cancers. Unfortunately, it has not yet been proven that the use of Sunscreen reduces the risk of developing Melanoma. Since UVA is the main cause of Melanoma, the protection against UVA is important, and Sunscreens should contain ingredients to protect against UVA. However, no Sunscreen can fully protect against the full spectrum of UVA & UVB, but it has been shown that there is a relationship between the UV ray absorption and the SPF values of Sunscreen. Different studies and their resulted data reflect the chronological progress of the relation of the concentration of UVB & UVA filters in Sunscreen the influence of additional chemical component, antioxidants, and cell-protecting agents on the efficiency of the product. Also, there are some concerns about some of the major chemical components used in Sunscreens and Sunblocks, such as Benzophenone, Avobenzone, Titanium Dioxide, and Zinc Oxide. These are potentially dangerous toxic chemical substances. Therefore, in this cancer project we try to compare some of the advantages and disadvantages of using Sunscreens, as one adjunct to skin cancer prevention with emphasizing on the fact that there is not enough support to prove the truth that Sunscreen use alone is adequate protection against UV radiation.