Scientists have gathered the first direct proof that using a
sunscreen helps prevent skin cancer. Applying sun-blocking cream
has long been recommended as a way to protect the skin from the
sun's harmful effects, including cancer. But this advice was
based on animal experiments and other circumstantial evidence.
Now Australian researchers have completed a summerlong
experiment showing that people who used sunscreen before going
outside cut their chances of developing the first signs of skin
cancer. "It's a very important paper," said Dr. Darrell Rigel of
the New York University Medical School. "It's the first time we
have been able to definitively show that sunscreen lowers the
risk of getting skin cancer later in life." The study was
conducted on 588 men and women who were randomly assigned to use
either a sunscreen with a sun-protection factor of 17 or a look-
alike lotion without the blocker. The experiment was run from
September 1991 through March 1992, one Australian summer.
Reduced Basal Cell Cancers The