LONDON: Tea, the cup that tones up the immune system, could soon be more than just a drink. Compounds of black and green tea could be used in a lotion to ward off skin cancer, new research indicates.

A team from the University of Minnesota in Austin told the American Chemical Society in New York on Monday that tea contains chemicals that block formation of non-melanoma skin tumours.

Sunblock prevents the skin from absorbing dangerous ultraviolet radiation from the sun. But the polyphenols in tea get to work after the skin has been exposed to excessive sunlight.

The incidence of skin cancer in Britain and northern Europe has been rising.

Researchers have linked tea with protection against lung cancer, and a team at Harvard earlier this year reported that the brew of antioxidants and other chemicals in tea seemed to stimulate the human immune system far more effectively than coffee.

But the Minnesota team went a step further: they watched the brew of polyphenols block an enzyme called JNK-2, which seems to play a key role in the development of tumours. Levels of JNK-2 increase after the skin is exposed to sunlight, and stay high in those who have had too much sun.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.