[ RadSafe ] Fwd: [New post] Uranium exposure and skin cancer

[Roger Helbig]

Has anyone ever looked into Stearn's research - she is long time
anti-uranium researcher and I wonder how she games her experiments to
get the results that she claims to report - she works for a public
university and I wonder if the people of Arizona should question why
they fund her "science" -

Roger Helbig

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: nuclear-news <comment-reply at wordpress.com>
Date: Thu, Aug 7, 2014 at 11:51 PM
Subject: [New post] Uranium exposure and skin cancer
To: rwhelbig at gmail.com


Christina MacPherson posted: "Study may help explain link between
uranium exposure and skin cancer
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-08-link-uranium-exposure-skin-cancer.html
  After years of delving deep into DNA and researching ways in which
metal damage may lead to cancer, a team "
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New post on nuclear-news

Uranium exposure and skin cancer

by Christina MacPherson

Study may help explain link between uranium exposure and skin cancer
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2014-08-link-uranium-exposure-skin-cancer.html
  After years of delving deep into DNA and researching ways in which
metal damage may lead to cancer, a team of researchers is taking a
step back to look at the surface where one answer may have been all
along. The varying health risks from exposure to natural uranium are
well established, but Diane Stearns, professor of biochemistry at
Northern Arizona University, and her team have been trying to
determine if there is a link between uranium exposure and skin cancer,
stating that skin may have been overlooked in the past.

In a recent article published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology,
the NAU team shared results from a study that explored photoactivation
of uranium as a means to increase its toxicity and ability to damage
DNA.

"Our hypothesis is that if uranium is photoactivated by UV radiation
it could be more harmful to skin than either exposure alone," Stearns
said.

Through the study, the team found that once uranium was present in the
skin, exposure to UV radiation or sunlight could be chemically toxic
and lead to cancerous lesions. The team members recommend that future
risk assessments regarding cancer caused by uranium exposure include
the possibility of photoactivation in skin.

They also propose that photoactivated uranium exposure could be even
more harmful in cells that can't repair the damage on their own.
Stearns explained such cases are found in individuals with Xeroderma
Pigmentosum or XP, a disease that causes extreme sensitivity to
sunlight.

Through research into the XP cell lines, the team discovered regional
relevance for the study. The disease is prevalent on the Navajo
Nation, a site of historically high levels ofuranium mining and
processing in the Southwest. The 2012 documentary Sun Kissed further
piqued the researchers' curiosity. The film cites the incidence of XP
in the general population as one in 1 million, yet cases increase
significantly to one in 30,000 in the Navajo population.

Stearns believes there may be implications that should be taken into
consideration for a population like the Navajo community with carriers
of XP mutations and relatively high exposure to uranium and the sun.

"We just want to make people aware that uranium exposure could
contribute to skin cancer and could also be exacerbating XP," Stearns
said.

Stearns said as she looks to the future, she hopes to fine-tune her
understanding of the photoactivation mechanism and how it is damaging
DNA. "We have predicted the link but now we would like to study it
step by step to establish an even stronger connection."

Together with her Navajo students at NAU, she also hopes to determine
whether the old uranium mines might explain the increase in cancer and
what is being called a sudden emergence of XP on the Navajo Nation.

"I've had several Navajo students come to me because they found out I
was doing uranium research and they had a relative who died of cancer
and always wondered if it was uranium," Stearns said. "It's been a
really personal way for them to see the value in scientific research
because it can directly relate to their community."

Christina MacPherson | August 8, 2014 at 6:51 am | Categories: health,
indigenous issues, Reference, Uranium | URL: http://wp.me/phgse-hQp

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