By David Liu, PHD

A new study in the journal Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery taking curcumin may help prevent skin cancer effectively.  It has not been 100% certain whether curcumin works for humans because the subjects used for the study were mice although the possibility can't ruled out.

The study presented at the 2012 AAO-HNSF Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO; September 9-12, 2012 in Washington, DC shows both oral administration or topical use of curcumin reduced the number of skin cancer formed after exposure to UVB radiation, which is known to induce skin cancer.

For the study, 11 mice were supplemented orally or topically with curcumin and another 11 mice were given placebo for 14 days.  And then mice were either exposed UVB radiation three times weekly for 24 weeks or not treated with UV radiation.  And then the number of tumors were counted and the onset of the tumors were recorded.

Authors of the study, Jeffrey Phillips, MD from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-Shreveport in Shreveport, Louisiana, USA and colleagues found mice untreated with curcumin developed skin cancer earlier than those supplemented with curcumin, either orally or topically.  Also mice treated with curcumin had fewer tumors than those untreated.

Both oral or topical administration rendered an equal efficacy in preventing skin cancer in mice induced by UVB radiation.

The authors reported that early studies had shown that "curcumin, a naturally occurring food substance and anticarcinogenic agent inhibited cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma xenograft growth in mice." 

The study suggests that curcumin may be used as a chemopreventive agent to prevent skin cancer although more research is needed to confirm the efficacy in humans.

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in humans.  Most cases are non-lethal have a good prognosis.   UV radiation is considered a cause for skin cancer, but not the only cause for the disease.

Curcumin is a potent phytochemical that can help prevent or treat many chronic diseases including diabetes, obesity, liver disease and skin cancer among others.   So even if trials fail to repeat the efficacy in preventing skin cancer in humans, curcumin is still a dietary supplement everyone should use to prevent other diseases.