Caffeine might offer some protection from skin cancer, researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle noted in a study published online Feb. 26 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.

 

“We have found what we believe to be the mechanism by which caffeine is associated with decreased skin cancer,” said lead researcher Dr. Paul Nghiem, an associate professor of dermatology at the University of Washington in Seattle.

 

Nghiem and his colleagues studied the effect of caffeine on human skin cells in a laboratory that had been exposed to ultraviolet radiation. They found that in cells damaged by ultraviolet rays, caffeine interrupted a protein called ATR-Chk1, causing the damaged cells to self-destruct. Caffeine more than doubles the number of damaged cells that will die normally after a given dose of ultraviolet.

 

Of course, the finding does not imply that people should start drinking coffee after coffee just to stay away from skin cancer. Nghiem said it would take drinking six cups of coffee a day to decrease the risk of incidence by just 30 percent.

 

“We are by no means recommending that people change their beverage habits,” said Nghiem.

 

But the finding could lead to new sunscreens based on caffeine which could be used to prevent skin cancer in the near future.

 

“This study tells me that caffeine may be a useful ingredient topically to remove ultraviolet-genetically damaged cells from reproducing. This may help prevent the development of skin cancer,” Dr. Robin Ashinoff, a dermatologist and clinical associate professor of dermatology at New York University's Langone Medical Center. However, the finding should be verified before it can have any clinical application.