In the current issue of the journal Science, a team at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center reports that a protein called FasL triggers severely damaged skin cells to commit suicide. In the study, mice with normal FasL killed off UV-damaged cells more efficiently than did mice without FasL. They also piled up fewer mutations in a gene called p53–a gene that, when mutated, can cause skin cancer.
Though skin cancer rarely kills, patients who get it are 20 to 30 percent more likely to perish from other cancers. What’s the link? People who carry a glitch in FasL may be unable to stop the rapid growth of not only skin-cancer cells but other kinds of cancer cells, too.
But even with healthy FasL, say the authors, a sunburn is still dangerous. As always, avoiding the sun is your best defense against skincancer–and there’s no molting involved.
