Eczema may reduce risk of skin cancer: Condition means sufferers are more likely to shed skin containing cancerous cells

Eczema sufferers have an overactive immune system drying out their skin The condition may help shed potentiality cancerous cells from the skin Skin cancer malignant melanoma affects almost 10,000 Britons a year

By Jenny Hope

Published: 18:56 EST, 5 May 2014 | Updated: 03:02 EST, 6 May 2014

Eczema, as any sufferer will attest, can be a real pain. But there may be a silver lining, it seems, as the condition may lower the risk of developing skin cancer.

People with eczema have an overactive immune system which means their skin easily becomes dry and prone to infection.

But this so-called defective skin barrier may also help them shed potentially cancerous cells from the skin and so protect against one of the most common types of skin cancer, squamous cell cancer (SCC).

Silver lining: Eczema sufferers have an overactive immune system drying out their skin, however this may help shed potentiality cancerous cells from the skin

Previous studies have suggested that having eczema may cut the risk of skin cancer.

But it is difficult to draw firm conclusions based on studies of humans because eczema symptoms vary in severity and drugs used to treat the condition might also influence cancer.

Go here to read the rest:
Eczema may reduce risk of skin cancer: Condition means sufferers are more likely to shed skin containing cancerous cells