Title:Sunlight Vitamin D and Skin Cancer
Volume: 13
Issue: 1
Author(s): Rebecca S. Mason and Jorg Reichrath
Affiliation:
Keywords:
UV irradiation, Vitamin D, Skin cancer, Vitamin D receptor, Vitamin D Endocrine System, human macrophages, immunosuppressive, lipopolysaccharides, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, melanocytes
Abstract: Today, there is a controversial debate in many scientific and public communities on how much sunlight is appropriate to
balance between the positive and negative effects of solar UV-exposure. UV exposure undoubtedly causes DNA damage of skin cells and
is a major environmental risk factor for all types of skin cancers. In geographic terms, living in parts of the world with increased
erythemal UV or high average annual bright sun results in increased risks of skin cancers, with the greatest increased risk for squamous
cell carcinoma, followed by basal cell carcinoma and then melanoma. On the other hand, sunlight exerts positive effects on human health,
that are mediated in part via UV-B-mediated cutaneous photosynthesis of vitamin D. It has been estimated that at present, approximately
1 billion people worldwide are vitamin D-deficient or –insufficient. This epidemic causes serious health problems that are still widely
under-recognized. Vitamin D deficiency leads to well documented problems for bone and muscle function. There are also associations
between vitamin D-deficiency and increased incidence of and/or unfavourable outcome for a broad variety of independent diseases,
including various types of malignancies (e.g. colon-, skin-, and breast cancer), autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and
cardiovascular diseases. In this review, the present literature is analyzed to summarize our present knowledge about the important
relationship of sunlight, vitamin D and skin cancer.
