Researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Children’s Hospital in Boston are studying a new tanning cream that allegedly creates a safe, natural tan without exposing users to harmful UV rays that cause skin cancer.
The cream, which has only been tested on mice, showed “very promising results and generated lots of excitement,” said Dr. John D’Orazio, lead author of the study published Thursday in the journal Nature.
According to D’Orazio, after four years of research, scientists found that the drug Forskolin — an Indian plant extract — causes lab mice’s skin to tan in a generation cycle called AMP, producing melanin, which mimics the natural tanning process. By adding more cyclic AMP, scientists found that fair-skinned mice resulted in darker skin, D’Orazio continued.
“We were kind of amazed at the robustness of the response,” said David Fisher, senior author of the study and director of the Melanoma Program at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “If we had continued applying the cream, the mice would have been almost as dark as if they were black.”
The results prove promising to fair-skinned individuals who are unable to tan and are at high risk for skin cancer from UV radiation, Fisher said.
According a Sept. 20 press release published by the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, melanoma is on the rise as one of the deadliest forms of skin cancer, occurring when skin cells that control pigmentation replicate rapidly because of UV radiation damage to DNA. Melanoma kills nearly 8,000 people yearly, the release said.
“One in 90 people will get melanoma once in his or her life,” D’Orazio said.
Fisher called UV radiation “an important predictor in skin cancer,” and said his study had two objectives.
“First, we wanted to understand the molecular pathway and the science of the tanning path,” Fisher said. “The second part was to deduce whether or not the darkening path could be regulated.”
Fisher explained that by regulating the tanning path, light-skinned individuals susceptible to melanoma would be able to tan without worrying about skin cancer.
When tested on mice, the cream produced no visible side effects, D’Orazio said, adding that no lesions or scars were detected on their skin.
Fisher said the mice were “overall, healthier than before the application of the cream,” because of their weight gain and their ability to better withstand UV radiation.
Although optimistic about the results, both Fisher and D’Orazio did not reject the possibility of more subtle side effects occurring.
Currently, researchers are in the stages of preliminary safety testing on the mice, and Fisher said human testing is “still a couple of years away” because human skin is thicker than that of mice, so a different drug would have to be used on humans.
Still, the excitement generated by the new tanning cream is overwhelming, considering its stark differences from tanning creams on the market today.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is sunscreen, which blocks UV radiation, but also prevents the skin from obtaining a tan.
D’Orazio said that sunscreen does not block UVA rays – a problem since scientists are not sure exactly which UV rays are detrimental to the skin.
“We’re changing the biology of skin,” D’Orazio said. “We’re giving the body the signal of tanning without UV radiation and the skin damage that comes with it. In individuals that cannot tan for whatever reason, we are bypassing it chemically and saying ‘Yes, you can tan and, yes, you can have UV protection.'”
Myers expressed the foundation’s excitement in the results of Fisher’s study.
“These are exciting results that may lay the groundwork for Dr. Fisher’s clinical research on the prevention and treatment of skin cancer,” Myers said.