UV Rays May Reduce Risk for Renal Cancer in Men

by mesothelioma

Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 08:26 PM EDT

Frequent exposure to sunlight may reduce the risk of renal cell carcinoma in men, according to a study published in the March 8th online edition of Cancer by a team of researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, MD.

The findings are the result of a large-scale study that looked at the relationship between occupational exposure rates and renal cell carcinoma. By conducting personal interviews and reviewing benchmark indices of occupational UV exposure, the NCI team concluded that men who have an increased occupational exposure to UV light had a 24 to 38 percent lower risk of renal cell carcinoma. Curiously, no significant relationship between UV light exposure and renal cell carcinoma was found in women.

For the study, the team looked at 1,097 individuals who had previously been diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma, as we as a control group of 1,476 individuals. The research subjects were taken from four central and eastern European countries.

Further drilling through the results reveals that men who worked in higher latitudes had a 71 to 73 percent reduced risk of having renal cell carcinoma (higher latitudes are associated with higher levels of UV exposure).

In response to the findings, the NCI researchers suggest, “additional studies that consider recreational UV exposure and behavioral differences, in an effort to reduce exposure misclassification, are warranted, particularly among women.”

Resource:
http://oncolink.org/news/index.cfm?function=detail&ID=910

This article originally appeared on Mesothelioma Blog.