Do Skin Moisturizers Promote Cancer?

Author: Drucilla Dyess

Every day, women (and men) all over the world slather on moisturizing creams of all prices and varieties, trying to keep their skin supple and defy aging. Starting with advice from our mothers on skin care, and reinforced by modern media, facial creams have always been deemed a must-do ritual. However, several common moisturizing creams have been shown to promote the spread of skin cancer and the growth of tumors in mice exposed to UV radiation. Does this mean you need to retreat and forget all you have learned? No. It just means you need to read the label more carefully to be absolutely safe.

Hairless mice were exposed to UV radiation twice weekly for 20 weeks. The UV treatment was followed by the application of the four common brands of skin moisturizers to the skin of the animals five days weekly for a period of 17 weeks. The treatment resulted in the generation of non-melanoma skin cancer.

The research group, from Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, discovered that the mice treated with the skin moisturizers showed an increase in the rate of tumor formation and found that more tumors developed on mice treated with moisturizers than on those only treated with UV radiation. The rates of increase in tumor activity from the application of each moisturizer in the analysis were:

• 24 Percent for Eucerin Original Moisturizing Cream (Beiersdorf of Hamburg Germany)
• 58 Percent for Vanicream (Pharmaceutical Specialties Inc., in Rochester, Minnesota)
• 69 Percent for Dermabase (Patrick Laboratories in Minneapolis)
• 95 Percent for Dermovan (Galderma Laboratory Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas)

Lead researcher Allan H. Conney from the university's Susan Lehman Cullman Laboratory for Cancer Research noted, "These creams we tested have tumorigenic (tumor-causing) activities." He also stated, "I need to emphasize that what we have done is only in mice. We don't know what the implications are for humans. But it does raise a red flag that this is something that should be considered."

Some ingredients in the moisturizers were identified as seeming to enhance tumor growth. When mineral oil and sodium lauryl sulfate, previously linked to skin irritation, were removed from the lotion in a mixture created for the analysis by Johnson and Johnson, the altered lotion did nothing to encourage the growth of cancer in mice exposed to UV radiation.

"We really don't know what ingredients in these creams are doing that," Conney said. "There is a need to have the various companies test their creams to see whether or not there is a problem." Conney believes that companies can remove the effect by modifying their products. He also added, "I am sure there are creams on the market that do not have tumorigenic activities and some of them may have anti-tumorigenic activity."

Non-melanoma skin cancer is very common in humans, and is usually surgically curable. However, it can prove fatal in very rare cases. Conney said that further studies are necessary to determine the effects of topical creams on humans since the skin of mice is thinner and more porous than human skin. Many experts doubt the significance of the study for humans.

It is important to note that consumers should not simply stop using moisturizers. As we age and our skin becomes drier, moisture is needed to ward off conditions such as the outbreak of rashes, eczema and dermatitis.