# Do burns (not sunburn) cause cancer?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burns-not-sunburn-cause-cancer/430267>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 16, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burns-not-sunburn-cause-cancer/430267 "2007-12-16T23:47:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\
**Post date:** [December 16, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burns-not-sunburn-cause-cancer/430267/1 "2007-12-16T23:47:20Z")

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It’s generally recognised that sunburn is a Bad Thing in that it increases your risk of skin cancer. OK, that makes sense, UV light damages DNA.

But what about normal burns, and/or long-term skin exposure to hot but not necessarily burning temperatures, such as chefs might get? I know proteins can easily be denatured by heat, but is DNA also easily damaged by heat?

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**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2007, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-burns-not-sunburn-cause-cancer/430267/2 "2007-12-17T00:02:40Z")

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Probably not: [MJH Life Sciences® | Informing Healthcare Professionals](http://www.modernmedicine.com/modernmedicine/Residents+&+Med+Students/Burn-patients-not-necessarily-at-higher-risk-of-sk/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/389588?contextCategoryId=40196&ref=25)

You can always find some dissenting opinions, though:  
"3. Wounds  
Chronic non-healing wounds such as chronic ulcers and thermal burns and other non-healing wounds have an increased risk of basal cell carcinomas. " [http://www.skincancerguide.com/scus\_squamous/what\_causes\_squamous\_cell\_cancer.html](http://www.skincancerguide.com/scus_squamous/what_causes_squamous_cell_cancer.html)