How our microbiota might influence skin cancer development

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There are two groups of skin cancer, melanoma and non-melanoma. Melanoma is considered to be the most serious and fatal type of skin cancer1. The non-melanoma includes all the other types of skin cancer, and although is less fatal than melanoma cases, still must be taken seriously2. Skin cancer is the most common form of harmful cancer in Caucasians and unfortunately, the number of global cases continues to rise3,4. Medical research has shown that skin cancer is caused by many factors acting together, and while there are well-characterized environmental risk factors such as ultraviolet (UV) radiation, many other factors remain undetermined5.

Skin microbiota is the name given for the group of bacteria and other types of microorganisms that are normally found in our skin. Studies show that the number of bacteria in our body actually surpasses the number of human cells by a factor of 106. The interest in these microbiota bacteria has become more common due to technological advances and due to the importance that the microbiota has been shown to have in our health. Because every person is singular, the skin microbiota of each one of us is also singular, meaning that two people might have similar microbiota, but never the exact same. Now, can our skin microbiota influence the risk of us getting skin cancer?

A research group at the Catholic University of Korea is studying the possible connections between individual skin microbiota and skin cancer5. By looking closely at the skin microbiota, they could identify 9 types of bacteria connected with non-melanoma and 5 connected with melanoma cases, which indicate a close connection between skin cancer and skin microbiota. The identification of the bacteria in the microbiota is a great way to start a new detection method for skin cancer, where the patient skin can be tested for the bacteria, without the need for a painful skin sample. Currently, the research group is investigating how these bacteria act, and how they can be used to benefit our health.

Because the study and understanding of microbiota are fairly new, it is common to have studies without a final conclusion but with many new questions and exciting possibilities. Scientific experiments must continue along in future advances, exploring new discoveries. The study of the skin microbiota and its connection to skin cancer can lead to possible early detection of skin cancer, as well as be used as new preventive measures and possibly a new era for skin cancer treatment.

References

  1. Miller, A. J., & Mihm Jr, M. C. (2006). Melanoma. New England Journal of Medicine, 355(1), 51-65.
  2. Madan, V., Lear, J. T., & Szeimies, R. M. (2010). Non-melanoma skin cancer. The lancet, 375(9715), 673-685.
  3. Christenson, L.J.; Borrowman, T.A.; Vachon, C.M.; Tollefson, M.M.; Otley, C.C.; Weaver, A.L.; Roenigk, R.K. Incidence of basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas in a population younger than 40 years. JAMA 2005, 294, 681–690. [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  4. Oh, B. Pathogenesis and prevention of skin cancer. J. Korean Med. Assoc. 2018, 61, 644–648. [CrossRef]
  5. Woo, Y. R., Cho, S. H., Lee, J. D., & Kim, H. S. (2022). The human microbiota and skin cancer. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 23(3), 1813.
  6. Turnbaugh, P. J., Ley, R. E., Hamady, M., Fraser-Liggett, C. M., Knight, R., & Gordon, J. I. (2007). The human microbiome project. Nature, 449(7164), 804-810.