Skin cancer

 

Skin cancer is predominantly caused by overexposure to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. 

 

Skin cancer growth is also helped by the ability of ultraviolet rays to alter the immune system and its response to cancer.

Did you know?

• Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world with one in two people who spend their life in Australia developing some form of skin cancer.
• Melanoma is the most serious of all skin cancers but is less common, accounting for around five per cent of all skin cancer cases.

Our research
The ultraviolet rays in sunlight not only cause sunburn, they can also suppress the immune system as well as turn a normal skin cell into a cancerous one.  The effect on the immune system can result in a developing skin cancer avoiding destruction by an active immune response.  Interestingly, these UV rays can penetrate only a few millimetres into the skin, yet their effects on the immune system are widespread in the body.  We have identified some of the critical early events initiated in the outermost layer of skin which affect immunity.  Currently we are identifying the changes that are made to cells of the immune system initiated by those early events.  Our research has shown that these changes in immunity are important for melanoma and basal cell carcinoma, and probably all skin cancers.  

 

An important consequence of UV radiation of skin is the production of vitamin D, which is not only important for bone growth, but it can also affect the immune system and may also affect cancer growth.  Our current research is looking at the contribution vitamin D makes to the immune system changes following exposure to UV rays.  With the relative abundance of sunlight in Australia, it’s important to understand how to keep sun exposure at levels that provide the benefits and avoid the risks.