Doctors of USC

Most men may never tuck lipstick into their briefcase or bag and take it to work, but maybe they should give it a thought. Or at least, they should use some sort of lip protection, according to research by USC scientists.

Even plain lipstick guards against lip cancer, suggests a study by Susan Preston-Martin, Ph.D., professor of preventive medicine, and colleagues.

The research may explain why women have much lower incidence rates of the disease than men.

"In the old days, lipstick didn't have sunscreen but it had color, and that protected your lips," says Preston-Martin. "The more you protect your lips, the less chance you have of getting cancer."

Although lip cancer is still fairly rare, rates increase as the population ages. Lip cancer is a type of oral cancer, and the American Cancer Society estimates there will be 30,200 new cases of oral and pharyngeal cancer in the United States in 2000.

Sun exposure, even decades ago, is thought to contribute to what can be a curable but disfiguring disease, and smoking and a fair complexion are other risk factors.

Days spent in the sun in the past can't be erased, but getting men (and women) to pay attention to protecting their lips would greatly aid cancer control efforts, says Preston-Martin.