Topical Caffeine Might Help Fight Skin Cancer

seattle-pk notes a story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about the apparent protective effects of caffeine against skin cancer. "For some years, studies have hinted at the possibility that caffeine can reduce the risk of some cancers. Now, new work by scientists at the University of Washington and Rutgers University may have unlocked the biochemical secrets behind caffeine's cancer-fighting ability. Studies at Rutgers (PDF) have shown that caffeine applied to the skin reverses ultraviolet-induced damage and reduces skin cancer."

Comments

And its other effects?

[davecrusoe]

Caffeine isn't just *possibly* good against skin cancer. There are definitely other things it's OK for, such as learning and memory, or at least, that thing we all do: work! See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caffeine#Effects_on_memory_and_learning for all its complexities. Its really pretty interesting...

Re:Looks like a new advertising line for ThinkGeek

[beefsprocket]

That's a big negative. From our friendly local erowid:

A search for scientific studies about the permeability of caffeine through mammalian skin yielded several webpages describing caffeine's poor ability to be absorbed transdermally. While one page did describe caffeine as having "good penetrating capability", this was in a study in which the skin was exposed for 4 hrs using radioactivly labelled caffeine. Even then, with a 1 mg or 9.3 mg caffeine per 100 cm^2 area of skin the absorbed dose was calculated to be only 17% and 1.6%.
Assuming the entire 250mg dose of caffeine suggested by the soap manufacturer made it to the skin and was held there for 4 hours, the above research would suggest that one would expect a dose between 4 and 42mg of caffeine. This dose is less than a typical cup of coffee.

Re:To paraphrase Captain Kirk

[Carbon016]

Caffeine is quite an effective pesticide. It's an evolutionary self-defense mechanism against insects, especially effective when you're still in the "I don't have any protective stuff" phase like a seedling.

Bad Summary

[DoctorLard]

"Studies at Rutgers (PDF) have shown that caffeine applied to the skin reverses ultraviolet-induced damage and reduces skin cancer."

Caffeine applied to the skin? Reverses UV damage? Reduces skin cancer? I call bullshit. Reading TFA reveals:

1. this was a test on mice,
2. it measured the apoptosis (programmed cell death) incidence in sunburnt skin tissue, using a microscopy assessment,
3. the caffeine was orally administered, and
4. caffeine combined with voluntary exercise was greater than either effect alone.

The rest is mostly (well-informed) speculation about the possible mechanisms behind it, and the usual "requires further investigation" clauses to get more funding. A better summary would be:

"Studies at Rutgers (PDF) have shown that caffeine in combination with exercise greatly increases (more than either factor alone) the apoptosis (programmed cell death) rate in UV damaged skin tissue in mice, which may indicate a reduced risk of skin cancer."