© 2005 Oxford University Press
EDITORIAL |
Sunlight and Reduced Risk of Cancer: Is The Real Story Vitamin D?
Affiliations of authors: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN (KME, JAS, WJB); International Epidemiology Institute, Rockville, MD (WJB)
Correspondence to: William J. Blot, PhD, International Epidemiology Institute, 1455 Research Blvd., Ste. 550, Rockville, MD 20850 (e-mail: blotw@cs.com).
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Solar radiation is a well-established skin carcinogen, responsible for more cancers worldwide than any other single agent (1). Yet, evidence is beginning to emerge that sunlight exposure, particularly as it relates to the vitamin D synthesized in the skin under the influence of solar radiation, might have a beneficial influence for certain cancers.
In this issue of the Journal, two independent epidemiologic studies (2,3) suggest that sunlight may reduce the risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and may be associated with increased survival rates in patients with early-stage melanoma. In a large population-based case–control study of more than 3700 patients with incident lymphoma and nearly 3200 control subjects in Sweden and Denmark, Smedby et al. (2) reported a 20% to 40% reduction in the risk of this cancer. The reduction in risk was dose-related with increasing indices of prior sun exposure. In
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  T. Hedges and A. Scriven Sun safety: what are the health messages? The Journal of the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, July 1, 2008; 128(4): 164 - 169. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. T. Chang, K. M. Balter, A. Torrang, K. E. Smedby, M. Melbye, C. Sundstrom, B. Glimelius, and H.-O. Adami Nutrient Intake and Risk of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Am. J. Epidemiol., December 15, 2006; 164(12): 1222 - 1232. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Boniol, B. K. Armstrong, and J.-F. Dore Variation in incidence and fatality of melanoma by season of diagnosis in new South wales, australia. Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., March 1, 2006; 15(3): 524 - 526. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. S. Kalish Re: Sun Exposure and Mortality From Melanoma J Natl Cancer Inst, August 3, 2005; 97(15): 1158 - 1158. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. E. Smedby, H. Hjalgrim, M. Melbye, B. Glimelius, and H.-O. Adami RESPONSE: Re: Sun Exposure and Mortality From Melanoma J Natl Cancer Inst, August 3, 2005; 97(15): 1160 - 1161. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. M. Egan, J. A. Sosman, and W. J. Blot RESPONSE: Re: Sun Exposure and Mortality From Melanoma J Natl Cancer Inst, August 3, 2005; 97(15): 1161 - 1162. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. D. Dellavalle and K. R. Johnson Re: Sun Exposure and Mortality From Melanoma J Natl Cancer Inst, August 3, 2005; 97(15): 1158 - 1159. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B. Diffey Do white British children and adolescents get enough sunlight? BMJ, July 2, 2005; 331(7507): 3 - 4. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|