A Key Role in UVB Induced Skin Cancer Barry Starcher. Preliminary studies in our lab have shown that mice which have been treated with synthetic elastase inhibitors, are almost all completely protected from UVB induced skin cancer.
Neutrophil elastase appears to have a key role in the development and progression of skin cancer.
We are looking at the action of this enzyme mediated through TNF receptors that may lead to approaches that could lead to the treatment or prevention of this form of cancer. TNFR-2 knockout genotype into hairless mice to develop hairless knockout mice in order to study the effect of UVB on skin tumors in the absence of these receptors. Without the ability to respond to TNF the cells would survive to become malignant and develop tumors. The initial part of the study was completed as the hairless knockout mice were developed and irradiated with UVB for 24 weeks. The answer was quite clear as to the effect of the absence of TNF receptors on the incidence of skin tumors.