Black Raspberries Yield Possible Skin Cancer Treatment

Skin Cancer Treatment and Raspberries

It may seem improbable, but one of the best allies against sunburn and skin cancer could be growing in your own back yard.

Researchers at the Ohio State University Medical Center say a topical compound made of black raspberries significantly slows the growth of squamous cell carcinomas of the skin in mice exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, the most dangerous light in the solar spectrum.

"In terms of shutting down the inflammatory response, we've never seen anything like it," says Dr. Anne VanBuskirk, an assistant professor of surgery in Ohio State's College of Medicine and senior author of the study, presented today at the annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research.

UVB radiation inflames the skin, resulting in sunburn. Scientists have long believed that UVB light causes most of the non-melanoma skin cancers diagnosed in the United States each year.

VanBuskirk has spent years researching the development of non-melanoma skin cancers among patients who have undergone solid organ transplants.

"These patients are exquisitely sensitive to sunlight and are at extremely high risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma. It's been estimated that 5 to10 percent of them will get the disease within five years of their transplant, and half of them will develop it by 10 years out. Anything we can do to reduce those numbers would be helpful."

Squamous cell carcinoma is not as virulent as malignant melanoma, but in certain people at high risk of the disease