NEW YORK, Jun 13 (Reuters Health) - Slathering children with
sunscreen--especially youngsters with freckles--can help prevent the development
of moles, according to new study findings.
And because some moles can become cancerous later in life, the use of
sunscreen may be able to prevent such cancer, known as melanoma, researchers
report. Melanoma is a relatively rare form of skin cancer, but it is also the
most dangerous type because it can spread throughout the body.
"Since about 50% of melanomas arise in moles, we feel that reducing moles as
they develop in kids will have the consequence of reducing their risk of
melanoma as adults," the study's lead author, Richard P. Gallagher, of the
British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver, Canada, told Reuters Health.
In the study, Gallagher and his colleagues followed 309 white children who
were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Parents of some children were
supplied with sunscreen (SPF 30) and instructed to apply the lotion to their
children whenever they were expected to be in the sun for 30 minutes or more.
Other parents were not given any advice on sunscreen use--either to use it or
not to use it.
Both groups of children spent similar amounts of time out in the sun, but
children in the 'control' group--those whose parents were not instructed about
sunscreen--were more likely to have spent time outside while not wearing
sunscreen, the authors report in the June 14th issue of The Journal of the
American Medical Association.
Based on exams performed at the beginning and the end of the 3-year study,
children in the sunscreen group developed fewer new moles than children in the
control group did. On average, they developed 24 new moles, compared with 28 in
the control group, according to the report.
Sunscreen appeared to make the most difference in children with freckles,
the researchers note. They estimate that using a high-powered sunscreen may
reduce the risk of new moles by 30% to 40% in children who freckle. Skin cells
of children with freckles may be more sensitive to ultraviolet radiation in
sunlight, Gallagher suggested.
But he stressed that children who do not have freckles may also benefit from
sunscreen use in the long run. "This may mean that if we had run a more lengthy
trial, we would have seen the effect in kids without freckles, too," he added.
