Fractionated Laser Resurfacing Shows Prophylactic Effect on Skin Cancer

Fractional laser resurfacing may correct the inappropriate response to UVB radiation that leads to increased non-melanoma skin cancers in geriatric patients. A new study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology (March 2012, www.nature.com/jid/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/jid201229a.html), led by author Dan F. Spandau, PhD, found that, when subjects over the age of 60 were treated on their upper buttocks and dorsal forearms with a fractional resurfacing laser, there was a decrease in the occurrence of senescent fibroblasts in the dermis, an increase in the dermal expression of IGF-1 and a decrease in the occurrence of UVB-damaged proliferating keratinocytes when compared to the subjects' untreated skin. The researchers note that the responses seen “were equal to the effects seen previously using the more aggressive wounding following dermabrasion.”