Effects of Inadequate UV-B

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" .... (more) solar UV-B radiation is associated with reduced risk

of cancer of the breast, colon, ovary, and prostate as well as non-

Hodgkin lymphoma ........ bladder, esophageal, kidney, lung,

pancreatic, rectal, stomach, and corpus uteri. "

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" An estimate of premature cancer mortality in the U.S. due to

inadequate doses of solar ultraviolet-B radiation.

Grant WB.

wbgrant@...

BACKGROUND: There are large geographic gradients in mortality rates

for a number of cancers in the U.S. (e.g., rates are approximately

twice as high in the northeast compared with the southwest). Risk

factors such as diet fail to explain this variation. Previous studies

have demonstrated that the geographic distributions for five types of

cancer are related inversely to solar radiation. The purpose of the

current study was to determine how many types of cancer are affected

by solar radiation and how many premature deaths from cancer occur

due to insufficient ultraviolet (UV)-B radiation. METHODS: UV-B data

for July 1992 and cancer mortality rates in the U.S. for between 1970-

1994 were analyzed in an ecologic study. RESULTS: The findings of the

current study confirm previous results that solar UV-B radiation is

associated with reduced risk of cancer of the breast, colon, ovary,

and prostate as well as non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Eight additional

malignancies were found to exhibit an inverse correlation between

mortality rates and UV-B radiation: bladder, esophageal, kidney,

lung, pancreatic, rectal, stomach, and corpus uteri. The annual

number of premature deaths from cancer due to lower UV-B exposures

was 21,700 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 20,400-23,400) for

white Americans, 1400 (95% CI, 1100-1600) for black Americans, and

500 (95% CI, 400-600) for Asian Americans and other minorities.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study demonstrate that much

of the geographic variation in cancer mortality rates in the U.S. can

be attributed to variations in solar UV-B radiation exposure. Thus,

many lives could be extended through increased careful exposure to

solar UV-B radiation and more safely, vitamin D3 supplementation,

especially in nonsummer months. Copyright 2002 American Cancer

Society.

PMID: 11920550 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] "