Cancer Council NSW logo
13 11 20 Information & Support
Select or press enter to search
Donate now
Menu
  • About Us
  • News
  • Shop
  • Health professionals
  • flags
  • About Cancer
    Find information about cancer types, coping with a diagnosis, treatments, side effects, living well after diagnosis & treatment, caring for loved ones, resources for your community and more.
    • What is cancer?
    • Types of cancer
      • Bowel cancer
      • Blood cancers
      • Breast cancer
      • Lung cancer
      • Melanoma
      • Prostate cancer
      • View 45 other cancers
    • Coping with a diagnosis
      • Coping with emotions
      • Tests and scans
      • Talking to kids about cancer
      • Cancer and your finances
      • Cancer and work
      • Cancer care and your rights
    • Cancer treatment
      • Treatment options
      • Chemotherapy
      • Radiation therapy
      • Surgery
      • Immunotherapy
      • Targeted therapy
      • Hormone therapy
      • Clinical trials
      • Palliative treatment
    • Managing side effects
      • Fatigue
      • Taste and smell changes
      • Heart health and cancer
      • Hair loss
      • Pain and cancer
      • Peripheral neuropathy
      • Changes in thinking and memory
      • Lymphoedema
      • Mouth health
      • Nutrition and cancer
      • Breast prostheses and reconstruction
      • Fertility
      • Sexuality
    • Supporting someone with cancer
      • Caring for someone with cancer
      • Caring for someone with advanced cancer
      • Family and friends
      • Supportive schools
      • Supportive workplaces
      • Caring for mob with cancer
    • Living well during and after treatment
      • Nutrition and cancer
      • Exercise and cancer
      • Complementary therapies
      • Living well after treatment
    • Advanced cancer
      • Living with advanced cancer
      • Caring for someone with advanced cancer
      • Palliative care
      • Facing end of life
      • Coping with grief
    • Information for your community
      • Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples
      • Resources in different languages
      • Easy Read resources
      • Resources for LGBTQI+ people
    • Fact sheets, podcasts and more
      • Cancer resource hub – fact sheets, booklets and more
      • Cancer Council Podcasts
  • Get Support
    Our cancer helpline consultants are ready for your call to support all people impacted by cancer. We may be able to assist with direct support services or by putting you in touch with other people who can support you.
    • 13 11 20 – Speak to a cancer professional
    • How can we help you
      • Accommodation during treatment
      • Cancer Counselling
      • Financial Support
      • Legal & Workplace Support
      • Transport to treatment
      • Support after treatment
    • Connect with others
    • Online community
    • Coping with a diagnosis
      • Coping with emotions
      • Talking to kids about cancer
      • Cancer and your finances
      • Cancer and work
      • Cancer care and your rights
    • Health care professionals
    • Cancer stories
    • Cancer podcasts
    • Meditation and relaxation podcasts
  • Preventing Cancer
    Discover lifestyle choices to minimise your risk of getting cancer and the importance of screening and early detection for cancer survival.
    • Healthy diet and exercise
      • Limit alcohol
      • Be a healthy weight
      • Move more, sit less
      • Healthy Made Tasty
      • Our Kids Our Call
    • Quit smoking and vaping
      • Quit smoking
      • Tackling Tobacco
      • Smoke free environments
      • Electronic cigarettes
      • Generation Vape
    • Sun protection
      • Slip on a shirt
      • Slop on sunscreen
      • Slap on a hat
      • Seek shade
      • Slide on sunglasses
      • SunSmart NSW website
      • Improve your long game
      • Outdoor workers
      • Sporting groups
      • Buy sun protection products online
    • Screening and early detection
      • Cervical screening
      • Bowel cancer screening
      • Breast cancer screening
      • Lung cancer screening
      • Testicular cancer
      • Prostate cancer
      • Ovarian cancer
      • Liver cancer and hepatitis B
      • Check for skin cancer
    • CanAct – campaigning for better policies
    • Cancer Council shops
  • Research
    Research programs save lives, improve treatments and quality of life for cancer survivors.
    • Research we conduct
      • The Daffodil Centre
      • I-PaRCS
    • Research we fund
    • Search research by cancer type or topic
    • Information for researchers
      • Grant opportunities
    • Community participation in research
  • Get Involved
    Cancer Council exists through the generosity of the community. Find out how you can participate by donating, volunteering, fundraising or partnering with us.
    • Donate
      • Donate online
      • Make a regular donation
      • Donate in memory of a loved one
      • Make a major gift
      • Donate crypto
      • More ways to donate
    • Events and Fundraising
      • Events calendar
      • Fundraise your way – Do It For Cancer
      • Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea
      • Daffodil Day
      • Relay for Life
      • The Longest Day
      • The March Charge
      • 7 Bridges Walk
      • Stars Dance for Cancer
      • More ways to fundraise
    • Volunteer with us
    • Partnerships and philanthropy
      • Corporate Partnerships
      • Major gifts and philanthropy
      • Trusts and Foundations
    • Leave a gift in your will
    • Campaign with us
    • Work with us
    • Share your story
  • About Cancer
    Find information about cancer types, coping with a diagnosis, treatments, side effects, living well after diagnosis & treatment, caring for loved ones, resources for your community and more.
    • What is cancer?
    • Types of cancer
      • Bowel cancer
      • Blood cancers
      • Breast cancer
      • Lung cancer
      • Melanoma
      • Prostate cancer
      • View 45 other cancers
    • Coping with a diagnosis
      • Coping with emotions
      • Tests and scans
      • Talking to kids about cancer
      • Cancer and your finances
      • Cancer and work
      • Cancer care and your rights
    • Cancer treatment
      • Treatment options
      • Chemotherapy
      • Radiation therapy
      • Surgery
      • Immunotherapy
      • Targeted therapy
      • Hormone therapy
      • Clinical trials
      • Palliative treatment
    • Managing side effects
      • Fatigue
      • Taste and smell changes
      • Heart health and cancer
      • Hair loss
      • Pain and cancer
      • Peripheral neuropathy
      • Changes in thinking and memory
      • Lymphoedema
      • Mouth health
      • Nutrition and cancer
      • Breast prostheses and reconstruction
      • Fertility
      • Sexuality
    • Supporting someone with cancer
      • Caring for someone with cancer
      • Caring for someone with advanced cancer
      • Family and friends
      • Supportive schools
      • Supportive workplaces
      • Caring for mob with cancer
    • Living well during and after treatment
      • Nutrition and cancer
      • Exercise and cancer
      • Complementary therapies
      • Living well after treatment
    • Advanced cancer
      • Living with advanced cancer
      • Caring for someone with advanced cancer
      • Palliative care
      • Facing end of life
      • Coping with grief
    • Information for your community
      • Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples
      • Resources in different languages
      • Easy Read resources
      • Resources for LGBTQI+ people
    • Fact sheets, podcasts and more
      • Cancer resource hub – fact sheets, booklets and more
      • Cancer Council Podcasts
  • Get Support
    Our cancer helpline consultants are ready for your call to support all people impacted by cancer. We may be able to assist with direct support services or by putting you in touch with other people who can support you.
    • 13 11 20 – Speak to a cancer professional
    • How can we help you
      • Accommodation during treatment
      • Cancer Counselling
      • Financial Support
      • Legal & Workplace Support
      • Transport to treatment
      • Support after treatment
    • Connect with others
    • Online community
    • Coping with a diagnosis
      • Coping with emotions
      • Talking to kids about cancer
      • Cancer and your finances
      • Cancer and work
      • Cancer care and your rights
    • Health care professionals
    • Cancer stories
    • Cancer podcasts
    • Meditation and relaxation podcasts
  • Preventing Cancer
    Discover lifestyle choices to minimise your risk of getting cancer and the importance of screening and early detection for cancer survival.
    • Healthy diet and exercise
      • Limit alcohol
      • Be a healthy weight
      • Move more, sit less
      • Healthy Made Tasty
      • Our Kids Our Call
    • Quit smoking and vaping
      • Quit smoking
      • Tackling Tobacco
      • Smoke free environments
      • Electronic cigarettes
      • Generation Vape
    • Sun protection
      • Slip on a shirt
      • Slop on sunscreen
      • Slap on a hat
      • Seek shade
      • Slide on sunglasses
      • SunSmart NSW website
      • Improve your long game
      • Outdoor workers
      • Sporting groups
      • Buy sun protection products online
    • Screening and early detection
      • Cervical screening
      • Bowel cancer screening
      • Breast cancer screening
      • Lung cancer screening
      • Testicular cancer
      • Prostate cancer
      • Ovarian cancer
      • Liver cancer and hepatitis B
      • Check for skin cancer
    • CanAct – campaigning for better policies
    • Cancer Council shops
  • Research
    Research programs save lives, improve treatments and quality of life for cancer survivors.
    • Research we conduct
      • The Daffodil Centre
      • I-PaRCS
    • Research we fund
    • Search research by cancer type or topic
    • Information for researchers
      • Grant opportunities
    • Community participation in research
  • Get Involved
    Cancer Council exists through the generosity of the community. Find out how you can participate by donating, volunteering, fundraising or partnering with us.
    • Donate
      • Donate online
      • Make a regular donation
      • Donate in memory of a loved one
      • Make a major gift
      • Donate crypto
      • More ways to donate
    • Events and Fundraising
      • Events calendar
      • Fundraise your way – Do It For Cancer
      • Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea
      • Daffodil Day
      • Relay for Life
      • The Longest Day
      • The March Charge
      • 7 Bridges Walk
      • Stars Dance for Cancer
      • More ways to fundraise
    • Volunteer with us
    • Partnerships and philanthropy
      • Corporate Partnerships
      • Major gifts and philanthropy
      • Trusts and Foundations
    • Leave a gift in your will
    • Campaign with us
    • Work with us
    • Share your story
  • About Us
  • News
  • Shop
  • Health professionals
  • flags Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
  • Home
  • Research
  • Finding ways to prevent and treat skin cancer

Finding ways to prevent and treat skin cancer

The University of Sydney 2014–2016

A research team led by Associate Professor Scott Byrne based at The University of Sydney has discovered a vital mechanism that shows how cells in the immune system are hijacked by ultraviolet (UV) exposure, causing them to suppress immunity and help tumour development. Their findings could lead to a new treatment for aggressive skin cancers such as squamous cell carcinoma.

Background

Australia has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world, with more than two-thirds of Australians developing one of the various forms of skin cancer at some point in their lives. Avoiding excessive UV exposure is recommended by many health organisations, but we do not yet know by how much this exposure needs to be reduced to truly prevent cancer. Even though we all know that UV exposure can lead to cancer, the specific mechanisms for that remain unknown. Researchers need a thorough understanding of UV exposure’s impact on cells to devise new interventions for this common disease.

The research

Associate Professor Byrne and his team have discovered that UV exposure causes some immune cells, called B cells, to actively participate in the development of skin cancer. These B cells normally protect us from infection, but under the influence of sunlight, some of them can start producing immunity-suppressing compounds.

  • The team has discovered that targeting these rogue, sunlight-activated B cells with an antibody can treat existing skin cancer tumours in mice.
  • In an exciting development, there are already drugs on the market that target B cells in a similar way.
  • The team also found that UV exposure on the skin causes lymph nodes to accumulate skin-derived microparticles. Future research will investigate whether this might be one of the mechanisms by which UV exposure suppresses the immune system.

The impact

The high incidence of skin cancer in Australia makes it a significant health and economic burden. The need for better treatments is especially urgent for patients with UV-induced squamous cell carcinoma, which can be aggressive and may quickly spread elsewhere in the body.

With more detailed knowledge of the specific molecular mechanisms that lead from UV exposure to cancer, researchers will potentially be able to develop better strategies for the prevention and treatment of skin cancers. A promising avenue is the potential to use existing drugs to target the newly discovered pathway.

Research team

Associate Professor Scott Byrne
The University of Sydney

Professor Gary Halliday
Professor Diona Damian

Search research
Cancer research depends on your support
Donate now
Share

Achievements
18 Jun 2020

Addressing the needs of long-term prostate cancer survivors

Find out more
20 May 2020

HPV vaccine linked to decline in premature births

Find out more
Latest news
05 May 2025

Cancer isn’t just physical: here’s why supportive care is just as important

Find out more
Cancer Council NSW logo
  • About us
  • News & Media
  • Cancer Council Shop
  • Contact us
  • Work with us
  • Privacy and website policies
Aboriginal Daffodil logo

Cancer Council NSW acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land on which we live and work. We pay our respects to the elders past and present and extend that respect to all other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Aboriginal Respect Symbol designed by Marcus Lee Design for Cancer Council NSW.

Registered Charity (ACNC)

© Cancer Council NSW 2024. Cancer Council NSW is registered with the Australian Taxation Office as an Income Tax Exempt Charity: Charitable Fundraising Authority No. 18521. ABN 51 116 463 846. Cancer Council NSW, 153 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011. All donations over $2 are tax deductible.