JUNE 5, 2009 — A University of California-San Diego cancer researcher told a California radio station that sunshine does not cause melanoma – joining the ranks of a growing number of medical professionals willing to make this statement publicly.

“As the incidence of melanoma has risen it’s also paralleled a change in behavior that’s going on all across the world, and that is people are working indoors,” UCSD cancer specialist Gregory Daniels told San Diego-based KPBS radio, pointing out that there’s no direct connection in data between getting a lot of sun and getting melanoma.

Reserachers have known for years that melanoma is more common in indoor workers than in outdoor workers, which couldn’t be true if the disease had a direct connection to sunlight. But researchers who stepped out of line with the old “sun-melanoma” dogma most often were heavily criticized and intimidated by the dermatology lobby.

Daniels directs the clinical oncology program for melanoma patients at UCSD’s Moores Cancer Center.

To read the KPBS story click here.