Carotenoids do not cause Skin Cancer

By Kyle J. Norton

The skin is a large and outer layer organ of the human body that not only protects the internal tissues and organ against the invasion of foreign pathogens but also serve as the third detoxified organ after the liver and kidney.

Furthermore, the skin also plays an essential role to regulate body temperature and permit the sensations of touch, heat, and cold.

The skin contains 3 layers
* The epidermis, the outermost layer of skin.

* The dermis, beneath the epidermis.

* The deeper subcutaneous tissue (hypodermis).

Skin cancer is a medical condition caused by uncontrolled growth of abnormal skin cells and often detected at an early stage.

According to the statistics, every year, approximately 4.3 million cases of basal cell cancer (BCC) are diagnosed in the U.S. compared to over 1 million cases of  Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) which is the second most common form of skin cancer. 

There are three most common skin cancers, depending on the cancer cells originated
* Basal cell cancer (BCC)
Basal cell cancer is the most common type of skin cancer caused by abnormal growth of the cells in the lowest layer of the epidermis, accounting more than 90% of all skin cancer in the U.S. Basal cell cancer rarely spreads and kills but can cause significant destruction and disfigurement to the affected skin area.

* Squamous cell cancer
Squamous cell cancer arises from the uncontrolled multiplication of transformed malignant cells in the middle layer of the epidermis.

*Melanoma
Melanoma, a kind of skin cancer but less common to other skin cancer is a result of malignancy of melanocytes, produced dark pigment for your skin. 

Epidemiologically, long-term exposure to the sunlight, family history, age, gender, chemical exposure, r\exposure to radiation, smoking, and history of sunburns are some prevalent factors associated with the risk of the disease.

Carotenoids is a class of mainly yellow, orange, or red fat-soluble pigments, including lycopene and carotene, found abundantly in ripe tomato, pumpkins, carrots, corn, and daffodils.

In concern of overexpression of carotenoids enhancing the risk of skin cancer, researchers investigated the associations of several carotenoids and alpha-tocopherol with the risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer.

The study included serum carotenoids and alpha-tocopherol collected at baseline from 302 subjects who had at least two BCCs in the 5 years prior to randomization in the Isotretinoin-Basal Cell Carcinoma Prevention Trial.

During 5 years of follow-up, 70 subjects did not develop nonmelanoma skin cancer, 221 developed a BCC, and 85 developed a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

In chemical analysis, researchers found that

* Serum levels of any of the carotenoids measured or to alpha-tocopherol are not associated with the risk of developing a subsequent BCC.

* Furthermore, serum levels of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, and alpha-tocopherol found in carotenoids also were not independently related to the risk of a subsequent SCC.

* However, serum lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin were positively related to SCC risk with a risk ratio for subjects in the highest versus lowest tertiles of these micronutrients were 1.63.

In other words, overexpression of lutein, zeaxanthin, and beta-cryptoxanthin increased risk  SCC compared to no risk of carotenoids.

Based on the findings, researchers said, "Additional research is needed on the relationship of carotenoids to SCC risk in the general population and in subsets of the population who are at increased risk".

Taken altogether, dietary carotenoids does not increase the risk of skin cancer, pending to the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.

Intake of carotenoids in the form of supplement should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.

Natural Medicine for Fatty Liver And Obesity Reversal - The Revolutionary Findings To Achieve Optimal Health And Lose Weight

How To Get Rid Of Eye Floaters 
Contrary To Professionals Prediction, Floaters Can Be Cured Naturally 

Ovarian Cysts And PCOS Elimination
Holistic System In Existence That Will Show You How To
Permanently Eliminate All Types of Ovarian Cysts Within 2 Months

Back to Kyle J. Norton Homepage http://kylejnorton.blogspot.ca


Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.

Sources
(1) Serum carotenoids and alpha-tocopherol and risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer byDorgan JF1,  Boakye NA, Fears TR, Schleicher RL, Helsel W, Anderson C, Robinson J, Guin JD, Lessin S, Ratnasinghe LD, Tangrea JA. (PubMed)
(2) Association of Vitamin A and Carotenoid Intake with Melanoma Risk in a Large Prospective Cohort by Maryam M. Asgari, MD MPH,1,2 Theodore M. Brasky, PhD,3,4 and Emily White, PhD. (PMC)
(3) Skin Cancer (Excluding Melanoma) by Kyle J. Norton