Sunscreen immune protection factor prediction of inhibition of anti-tumour immunity and carcinogenesis

尽管防晒霜在澳大利亚已经使用了25年多，但皮肤癌的发病率仍在继续增加。这部分是由于皮肤癌的发展滞后时间很长，因此目前的发病率反映了多年前的阳光照射模式。然而，这也部分是由于防晒霜在预防皮肤癌方面不如预防晒伤有效。阳光中的紫外线波长是皮肤癌的主要原因。澳大利亚人暴露在高水平的阳光下，因此66%的澳大利亚人在一生中患上皮肤癌。因此，澳大利亚被称为世界皮肤癌之都。为了降低澳大利亚皮肤癌的发病率，建议个人使用防晒霜。评估防晒霜有效性的方法是基于SPF系统，该系统测量防晒霜防止晒伤（红斑）的能力。然而，晒伤是由特定的紫外线波长引起的，对于皮肤癌评估来说，可能不如阳光的其他破坏性影响（如免疫抑制和基因突变）那么重要。防晒霜应该测试对免疫抑制和晒伤的保护，因为这将有助于开发更好的防晒霜。我们已经开发了一种技术来测量免疫系统的保护，并打算研究这种新的防晒测试的有用性。

Despite sunscreens having been used in Australia for more than 25 years the incidence of skin cancer continues to increase. This is partly due to the long lag time in developing a skin cancer, so that the current incidence reflects sun exposure patterns of many years ago. However this is also partly due to sunscreens not being as effective at preventing skin cancer as they are at preventing sunburn. The ultraviolet wavelengths found in sunlight are the prime cause of skin cancer. Australians are exposed to high levels of sunlight, and consequently 66% of Australians develop skin cancer throughout their lifetime. For this reason, Australia has been dubbed the Skin Cancer Capital of the World. To reduce the incidence of skin cancer in Australia, it is recommended that individuals use sunscreens. The means of assessing the effectiveness of sunscreens is based on an SPF system, which measures the ability of sunscreens to prevent sunburn (erythema). However sunburn is induced by particular ultraviolet wavelengths, and may not be as important for skin cancer assessment as other damaging effects of sunlight, such as immunosuppression and genetic mutations. Sunscreens should be tested for protection from immunosuppression as well as sunburn, as this would aid the development of better sunscreens. We have developed the technology to measure protection of the immune system, and intend to investigate the usefulness of this new sunscreen test.