Follow-up to: Should I use sunscreen to prevent skin cancer? I live in durango co
Question explored with the scientific record
Is it better if I just cover up my skin? But then what about my hands? I won’t wear gloves
The short version: the evidence says hands are the highest-risk sun-exposed skin, but it does not compare covering up to sunscreen in a head-to-head trial.
The only study that measures how different body sites respond to UV used mast cell density as a biomarker of chronic sun damage. The hand had a median density of 64 mast cells per unit area, nearly double the buttock (35) and well above the inner arm (39) or shoulder (33) [2]. That fits the melanoma site data from Chile: dorsal hand melanomas occurred only in men, who work outdoors with uncovered hands, while no woman in the study had a dorsal hand melanoma [3]. The pattern is consistent—hands take the heaviest UV toll.
What the retrieved evidence does not contain is a single trial that randomly assigns people to covering skin versus sunscreen and tracks cancer outcomes. The news-coverage analysis shows protective clothing was mentioned in only 12.5% of skin cancer stories over 25 years, while sunscreen appeared in 21.4% [1]. The message has been warped toward the product you buy, not the fabric you wear.
| Site | Median mast cell density [2] | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Hand | 64 | Highest chronic UV damage marker |
| Inner arm | 39 | Partially shielded site |
| Shoulder | 33 | Intermittent exposure |
| Buttock | 39 | Rarely sun-exposed baseline |
My call: covering skin is physically sound—no chemicals, no behavioral license to stay in the sun longer. But the evidence has never been run as an apples-to-apples trial, and hands are left out unless you glove. Confidence: moderate that covering reduces UV dose to covered sites; low on the net cancer benefit because the most vulnerable site stays exposed.
Sources examined 18
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A Content Analysis of News Coverage of Skin Cancer Prevention and Detection,1979 to 2003
A content analysis of 921 Associated Press skin cancer news articles from 1979–2003 shows limited coverage of primary and secondary prevention and risk communication, with treatment dominating and calls for media advocacy to improve public health education.
DOI: 10.1001/archderm.141.4.491 -
The effect of ultraviolet radiation exposure on the prevalence of mast cells in human skin
This study investigates the prevalence of dermal mast cells in human skin, revealing that chronic sun exposure significantly increases mast cell density, particularly in hand skin compared to other sites, and correlates with elastin content and age.
DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2133.2003.05113.x -
Malignant melanoma in Chile: an unusual distribution of primary sites in men from low socioeconomic strata
An observational analysis of 575 histologically confirmed primary malignant melanomas from five Santiago state hospitals (1992–2001) comparing anatomical-site distributions by gender in Chilean patients from a low socioeconomic background, finding distinct patterns (men: ears, d…
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2230.2005.02038.x -
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Bilateral Hands Is More Optimal Than MRI of Unilateral Hands for Rheumatoid Arthritis
This study demonstrates that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of bilateral hands is more effective than unilateral hand MRI in detecting synovitis, osteitis, and bone erosion in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), highlighting the importance of comprehensive imaging for acc…
DOI: 10.3899/jrheum.171044 -
A Multicenter Collaborative Study by the Korean Society of Vitiligo about Patients' Occupations and the Provoking Factors of Vitiligo
A multicenter Korean survey of 470 vitiligo patients identified environmental and occupational factors that may provoke or aggravate vitiligo, with trauma, sun exposure, stress, and certain chemicals as the most frequent associations and hand/face involvement linked to specific …
DOI: 10.5021/ad.2014.26.3.349 -
Low‐dose 5‐fluorouracil in combination with salicylic acid for the treatment of actinic keratoses on the hands and/or forearms – results of a non‐interventional study
This non-interventional, real-world study assessed the efficacy and safety of low-dose 5-fluorouracil 0.5% with 10% salicylic acid (Actikerall) for actinic keratoses on the hands/forearms in 649 patients across 207 German centers, showing substantial reductions in lesion count a…
DOI: 10.1111/jdv.13935 -
Hand-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery for Bilateral Lung Metastasectomy Through Sternocostal Triangle Access
This study presents a novel hand-assisted thoracoscopic surgery technique for bilateral lung metastasectomy through sternocostal triangle access, demonstrating its feasibility and potential benefits in terms of reduced complications and improved survival rates.
DOI: 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2010.11.057 -
Near Ultraviolet Absorption Arising from Lysine Residues in Close Proximity: A Probe to Monitor Protein Unfolding and Aggregation in Lysine-Rich Proteins
This study identifies a novel near-ultraviolet absorption feature arising from lysine residues in proteins, which can be used as an intrinsic probe to monitor protein unfolding and aggregation.
DOI: 10.1246/bcsj.77.765 -
Tyrosine and tryptophan modification monitored by ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy
This study investigates the chemical modifications of tyrosine and tryptophan residues in proteins using ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy, demonstrating that such modifications can effectively eliminate the spectral contributions of these residues, thereby allowing for t…
DOI: 10.1016/0167-4838(86)90191-3 -
Determination of biodegraded lignin by ultraviolet spectrophotometry
This study presents a method for determining residual free lignin in broth cultures using ultraviolet spectrophotometry, highlighting the effects of medium composition, pH, and microbial growth on lignin measurement.
DOI: 10.1016/S0003-2670(01)84153-2 -
Structural and photoluminescence properties of ZnO nanorods grown on ion-plated Ga-doped ZnO seed layers by chemical bath deposition and fabrication of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate)/ZnO nanorods heterostructures
ZnO nanorods grown on ion-plated Ga-doped ZnO seed layers by chemical bath deposition show growth-time- and water-resistivity-dependent morphology, residual stress, and Schottky-barrier height at the ZnO NR/GZO interface, enabling UV photocurrent in PEDOT:PSS/ZnO NR/GZO heterost…
DOI: 10.1016/j.tsf.2019.03.025 -
Analysis of Tetracyclines (TCs) Residues in Honey with HPLC - UV
This study developed and validated a high-performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection method for the simultaneous determination of tetracycline residues in honey, demonstrating high accuracy and precision.
DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.159.89 -
Changes in Hydrogen Bonding and Environment of Tryptophan Residues on Helix F of Bacteriorhodopsin during the Photocycle: A Time-Resolved Ultraviolet Resonance Raman Study
This study investigates the structural changes in tryptophan residues on helix F of bacteriorhodopsin during its photocycle using time-resolved ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy, revealing significant alterations in hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions.
DOI: 10.1021/bi012190b -
Determination of Pesticide Residues in Cereals by Liquid Chromatography and UV Detection
This study presents a chromatographic method for determining pesticide residues in cereals using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and ultraviolet (UV) detection, highlighting the importance of a preliminary purification step to enhance analytical accuracy.
DOI: 10.1080/00032710802440384 -
Liquid chromatographic determination of levamisole in animal plasma: ultraviolet versus tandem mass spectrometric detection
This study develops and validates two analytical methods—LC-UV and LC-MS/MS—for measuring levamisole in pig plasma, compares their performance, and demonstrates applicability to incurred samples, highlighting LC-MS/MS as superior in sensitivity and throughput.
DOI: 10.1016/s0003-2670(02)01377-6 -
Spectral Tuning of Avian Violet- and Ultraviolet-Sensitive Visual Pigments
The study identifies specific amino acid substitutions in avian violet/UV visual pigments that tune spectral absorption from violet toward ultraviolet, demonstrates their effects by site-directed mutagenesis and COS-7 expression, and proposes a structural explanation centered on…
DOI: 10.1021/bi992776m -
Comparing performance of Chromameter ® , Mexameter ® and full-field laser perfusion imaging for measurement of ultraviolet B light-induced erythema
This study evaluates the comparative performance of the Chromameter CR-400, Mexameter MX16, and full-field laser perfusion imaging (FLPI) in measuring ultraviolet B light-induced erythema, finding that Chromameter and Mexameter perform similarly while FLPI is less sensitive to r…
DOI: 10.1111/ced.12589 -
Ultraviolet Photodissociation of Tryptic Peptide Backbones at 213 nm
213 nm ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) of tryptic peptide backbones yields variable fragmentation whose efficiency rises with longer UVPD exposure and higher precursor charge density, with aromatic residues (notably tryptophan) enhancing fragmentation, and a dual MS2 approa…
DOI: 10.1021/jasms.0c00106