CHAPTER 14 



Ultraviolet Radiation and Cancer 



Harold F. Blum^ 



National Cancer Institute'^ 



Bethesda, Maryland 



and 



Department of Biology, Princeton University 



Princeton, New Jersey 



"... sans ttre holiophobe a outrance, je crois opportun d'arreter I'attention de ceux 

 qui abusent des bains de soleil sans aucun controle." 



—A. H. Roffo 



Experimental studies: The carcinogenic wave lengths — Tumor types and penetration 

 of the radiation — Quantitative aspects. Theoretical. The role of sunlight in cancer of 

 the skin of man: Topographical distribution — Complexion — Occupation — Distribution. 

 Prevention. References. 



In 1928, G. M. Findlay of Edinburgh published in The Lancet a brief 

 paper describing the production of cancer in the skin of mice by repeated 

 exposure to mercury arc radiation. He had been interested in the mech- 

 anism by which crude tar induces cancer, and this observation was more 

 or less accidental. Within the next few years, three other groups of 

 workers announced similar results. Putschar and Holtz (1930) in 

 Gottingen and Roffo (1933) in Buenos Aires used rats as the experimental 

 animals; Herlitz et al. (1931) in Stockholm used mice. It appears that 

 none of these three groups was aware, when beginning its experiments, of 

 the others' activity or of Findlay's previous paper, so all their results may 

 he regarded as independent findings. Only Findlay and Roffo were 

 directly interested in the problem of cancer, the latter undertaking the 

 experiments because of ideas regarding the role of cholesterol in carcino- 

 genesis. Herlitz et al. and Putschar and Holtz were interested in the 

 effects of excessive dosage of ultraviolet on vitamin D, and did not antici- 

 pate the induction of cancers. Within the next decade a number of other 

 workers carried out this type of experiment, and it became recognized 



1 Present address: Department of Biology, Princeton University. 



2 National Institutes of Health, Public Health Service, Department of Health, 

 Education and Welfare. 



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