A vote of no-confidence for Vanicream?

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Published at

http://www.newsmax.com/health/moisturizers_skin_cancer/2008/08/15/1222

99.html

Moisturizers Cause Skin Cancer in Mice

Moisturizers used by millions of people induced skin cancer in

experiments on mice, a study released Thursday said, as experts

expressed strong doubts over any possible risk to humans from creams.

Researchers at Rutgers University, New Jersey, in the United States

tested four common skin creams on gene-altered hairless mice exposed

to heavy doses of cancer-causing UV light.

The scientist who led the study, however, cautioned that rodent skin

is more sensitive than human skin, while other experts said they had

reservations about the relevance of the study's conclusions.

Rates of non-melanoma skin cancers increased between 24 and 95

percent compared to control mice not treated with creams, the study

found.

Non-melanoma skin cancer is very common in humans, and is curable

surgically. In very rare cases, however, it can prove fatal.

When the scientists, led by Allan Conney, repeated the experiments

with a made-to-order cream missing several suspect ingredients —

including mineral oil and sodium lauryl sulfate — the cancer rates

dropped sharply.

Conney said that further studies were needed to test the impact of

topical creams on people as rodent skin, usually covered by fur, is

thinner and more permeable than human skin.

His findings were published in the Journal of Investigative

Dermatology, part of the Nature Publishing Group in Britain.

Gordon McVie, a senior consultant at the European Institute of

Oncology said: " This has no relevance to causation of human skin

cancer and does not prove in any way whatever that moisturizing

creams are cancer-causing in humans. "

The four creams analyzed in the study were: Dermabase, manufactured

by Paddock Laboratories in Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dermovan, made by

Healthpoint Ltd. in Fort Worth, Texas; Eucerin Original Moisturizing

Cream, made by Beiersdorf Inc. in Wilton, Connecticut; and Vanicream,

made by Pharmaceutical Specialities, Inc. in Rochester, Minnesota.

Copyright AFP

Virginia