UTHSC researchers received $423,500 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to study the role of balanced sex hormones in DNA repair in human melanocytes.

Researchers out of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center are beginning a study to determine whether sex hormones affect the risk of melanoma

The team received a $423,500 grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study the role of balanced sex hormones in DNA repair in human melanocytes.

Feng Liu-Smith, PhD, associate professor in the College of Medicine’s departments of Dermatology and Preventive Medicine, is the principal investigator, Tejesh Patel, MD, chair of the Department of Dermatology, and Chi-Yang Chiu, PhD, associate professor of Preventive Medicine, are collaborators on the project.

 “Young women are at higher risk than young men, but as they age, the risk flips so older men actually have a much higher risk than older women. It’s a very intriguing observation from an epidemiology point of view, and I’m trying to understand why that happens,” Dr. Liu-Smith says in a news release.

 Dr. Liu-Smith believes human sex hormones might play a part. “The main male sex hormone is testosterone, and the main female sex hormone is estrogen. But women also have high levels of testosterone—not as high as men—and that plays a very important role in physiology, pathology, and everything. Similarly, men also have estrogen, so my hypothesis is that the ratio of these two hormones is highly linked to the frequency of melanoma.”

To study this, volunteers will be recruited and given patches that stick to the skin and release testosterone into the body. The researchers will analyze samples of each volunteer’s skin to determine if there are any changes in how the person’s DNA repairs skin damage before and after the hormones were adjusted.

 If there is a change after testosterone levels are raised, Dr. Liu-Smith says there are ways to modify sex hormone levels in everyday life to reduce the risk of melanoma. “Certain diets can change the ratio of sex hormones, so by eating different foods, we might be able to modify the sex hormone levels and make them more balanced. So, in that way, we may be able to have a new prevention method,” she say. “We don’t know what the ideal ratio is, but hopefully our study will give us a clue.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Feng Liu-Smith, PhD

PHOTO CREDIT: UTHSC