Perfect Tan Might Soon Be Made in the Shade

THURSDAY, April 11, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Bronzing your body without oceans of lotions -- or even the sun -- may soon be as simple as taking a drug.

An Australian company is working on a tanning product called Melanotan, which may be available within a few years. The drug is given through injection, but the company is working on a slow-release system that involves placing a container the size of a grain of rice under your skin.

Getting a quick, full-coverage tan would certainly be a hit with those who want to have that summer glow. However, the more important result may be that the drug could help reduce sun-related skin damage and the incidence of skin cancer, the researchers say.

Melanotan is a synthetic version of naturally occurring melanocyte stimulating hormone (MSH). This hormone stimulates the production of melanin, the pigment your body produces to create a tan to protect your skin from the sun. Melanin is a natural sunscreen that defends your skin by absorbing the ultraviolet light that damages DNA in your cells, causing aging and cancer.

"That's why your body does it. It's a protective device," says Wayne Millen, managing director of EpiTan Ltd. of Melbourne. "If we can make (melanin) at will, then we can control the internal sunscreen, and we can then hopefully control skin damage."

Recently, EpiTan completed a Phase I and partial Phase II clinical trial on Melanotan to test its safety and effectiveness.

Conducted at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the trial involved 12 people who received daily injections of Melanotan for 10 days and four people who were given a placebo.

To assess the effect of Melanotan, all the participants were told to stay out of the sun as much as possible and to use a 30 SPF sunscreen.

Those who took the drug had an average 20 percent increase in their melanin production. Those who received a placebo actually had a decrease in their melanin.

Some of the drug volunteers, however, experienced nausea, facial flushing and skin irritation at the injection sites. Millen says those side effects were probably linked to the daily injections.

Since even the most ardent sun worshippers wouldn't tolerate a daily shot, EpiTan is working on other ways to administer the drug. A pill won't work because Melanotan can't be absorbed by the digestive tract.

The company is focusing on a slow-release system that would discharge the Melanotan into the body over 60 to 90 days, Millen says.

The next phase of testing will be sunburn trials, which Millen says should be completed by the end of June.

Researchers will use a special ultraviolet light device to inflict sunburn on a small area of unprotected skin and then assess the cellular damage in that area. The test subjects will then be given Melanotan, and the same level of UV light will be applied to another area of skin. The researchers will examine that area to determine the level of protection afforded by Melanotan.

An update on EpiTan's research appears in the April issue of Chemistry and Industry.

Epi-Tan isn't the only company pursuing the perfect sunless tan, says an American dermatologist.

"The goal is to be able to get the protective tan without having to cook yourself first," says Dr. James Spencer, vice chairman of the dermatology department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

Most importantly, the convenience of such a product could reduce skin cancer, he says.

While preventing skin cancer is simple -- avoid too much sun exposure and wear sunscreen -- few people heed that advice, Spencer says.

"Sunscreen is inconvenient. You have to put all this stuff all over you, and you've got to do it all the time if you're going to be out doing sports all day or at the beach," Spencer says. "For that reason, compliance with sunscreen is actually very poor. People don't put on enough, and they don't put it on often enough."

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. The American Cancer Society says more than 1.3 million new cases will be diagnosed in 2002, and about 9,600 people will die from skin cancer.

What To Do

To learn more about skin cancer, go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Or try the American Cancer Society for information about melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers.