THE
LANCET ONCOLOGY: Press Release
EMBARGO: 1830H (New York time)
Tuesday 28 July 2009
PLEASE NOTE: THESE ARE LANCET
ONCOLOGY RELEASES, PLEASE ENSURE YOU CREDIT THE LANCET ONCOLOGY IF
USING THIS MATERIAL
·
SUNBEDS (UV TANNING BEDS), AND UV RADIATION MOVED UP TO
HIGHEST CANCER RISK CATEGORY BY INTERNATIONAL AGENCY FOR RESEARCH ON CANCER
(IARC)
SUNBEDS (UV TANNING BEDS), AND UV
RADIATION MOVED UP TO HIGHEST CANCER RISK CATEGORY BY INTERNATIONAL AGENCY FOR
RESEARCH ON CANCER (IARC)
The International Agency for
Research on Cancer (IARC) has moved sunbeds (UV tanning beds) up to the highest
cancer risk category—group 1—‘carcinogenic to humans’. The use of sunlamps and
sunbeds was until now classified as "probably carcinogenic to humans"
(group 2A). IARC also moved ultraviolet radiation into group 1. These and other
findings are revealed in a Special Report
in the August edition of The Lancet Oncology, produced by Dr Fatiha El
Ghissassi and her colleagues, IARC, Lyon, France, on behalf of the WHO International
Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group.
The authors say: “The use of UV-emitting tanning devices is widespread in
many developed countries, especially among young women. A comprehensive
meta-analysis concluded that the risk of skin melanoma is increased by 75% when
use of tanning devices starts before 30 years of age. Additionally, several case–control studies provide
consistent evidence of a positive association between the use of UV-emitting
tanning devices and ocular melanoma. Therefore,
the Working Group raised the classification of the use of UV-emitting tanning
devices to Group 1, ‘carcinogenic to humans’.”
The characteristic genetic mutation
that is caused by solar (ultraviolet/UV) radiation has long been attributed to
UVB radiation. However, the same mutation was detected in the skin of
UVA-treated mice, and in UVA-induced mouse skin tumours. Thus IARC reclassified
UV radiation as a whole (UVA, UVB and UVC) as carcinogenic to humans, or group
1. UVA, UBC, and UVC radiation were each previously in group 2A, "probably
carcinogenic to humans".
The working group
also concluded that there was sufficient evidence for ocular melanoma in
welders; however, because welders are exposed to other harmful agents, the risk
could not be specifically attributed to UV radiation. The authors say: “A full
review of the carcinogenic hazards of welding will be undertaken with high
priority.”
All types of ionising
radiation were also classified as Group 1. This was the first time all these
types of radiation were reviewed by one working group during one meeting.
Examples of ionising radiation are:
·
Radon gas (seeping from soil, rocks, and building
materials), which enters the lungs and causes damage (affecting the whole
population). The Special
Report says that radon is the second
leading cause of lung cancer (8—15% of cases) after tobacco smoke
·
Plutonium and its decay
products, affecting the bones, liver and lungs of plutonium workers.
·
Radium and its decay
products, affecting the bones of medical patients
·
Phosphorous-32 and its decay
products, causing acute leukaemia in medical patients
·
Radioiodines, affecting the
thyroids in children and adolescent survivors of nuclear reactor accidents
Dr Nicolas
Gaudin, IARC, Lyon, France T) +33-4-72 73 85 67 E) gaudin@iarc.fr
<mailto:gaudin@iarc.fr>
For full Special Report see: <http://press.thelancet.com/tlosunbeds.pdf>