This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (29)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Dermatologic Disorders  • Randomized Controlled Trial  • Dermatologic Disorders, Other  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Steven Darlington, BSc; Gail Williams, PhD; Rachel Neale, PhD; Christine Frost, MB, BS, PhD; Adèle Green, MB, BS, PhD

Arch Dermatol. 2003;139:451-455.

Background  Solar keratoses (SKs) are among the strongest determinants of skin cancer, but little is known about the success of measures to control these common skin tumors.

Objective  To determine whether daily sunscreen application and/or beta carotene supplementation retards the rate of occurrence of SKs in adults in the medium term.

Design  Randomized controlled trial conducted between February 1992 and August 1996.

Setting  General community of the subtropical township of Nambour, Australia (latitude, 26° south).

Participants  A total of 1621 adults aged 25 to 74 years.

Interventions  Participants were randomized to daily use of sunscreen (application of a high-protection sunscreen to their head, neck, arms, and hands every morning) or application of sunscreen at their usual discretionary rate. They were also randomly assigned to take either one 30-mg tablet of beta carotene or one placebo tablet each day.

Main Outcome Measure  Change in the prevalent number of SKs in the intervention group relative to change in the control group.

Results  The ratio of SK counts in 1994 relative to 1992 was lower in people randomized to daily sunscreen use (1.20; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.39) than in those randomized to discretionary sunscreen use (1.57; 95% confidence interval, 1.35-1.84). This 24% reduction is equivalent to the prevention of an average of 1 additional SK per person over that time. A reduction in the rate of change of SK prevalence was also seen in the sunscreen intervention group relative to the discretionary sunscreen group between 1994 and 1996, but it was not significant. No effect on the rate of change of prevalent SK counts was seen among those taking beta carotene supplements relative to those taking placebo tablets.

Conclusions  Daily application of sunscreen retarded the rate of SK acquisition among adults in a subtropical environment, while a beta carotene supplementation of 30 mg/d had no influence on the occurrence of SKs.

From the Comprehensive Cancer Research Center, Population and Clinical Sciences Division, Queensland Institute of Medical Research (Mr Darlington and Drs Neale, Frost, and Green), and the School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Australia (Dr Williams). The authors have no relevant financial interest in this article.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

Cutaneous Photoprotection
John L. M. Hawk
Arch Dermatol. 2003;139(4):527-530.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Food intake, dietary patterns, and actinic keratoses of the skin: a longitudinal study
Hughes et al.
Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2009;89:1246-1255.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Editorial: Photoprotection: does it work?
Ilchyshyn et al.
Lupus 2008;17:705-707.
 

Point: Sunscreen Use Is a Safe and Effective Approach to Skin Cancer Prevention
Green and Williams
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2007;16:1921-1922.
FULL TEXT  

Prolonged Prevention of Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Skin by Regular Sunscreen Use
van der Pols et al.
Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev. 2006;15:2546-2548.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Treatment of Photoaging
Stern
NEJM 2004;350:1526-1534.
FULL TEXT  

Cutaneous Photoprotection
Hawk
Arch Dermatol 2003;139:527-530.
FULL TEXT