Skin Cancer

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. The three major types of skin cancer are the highly curable basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas and the more serious malignant melanoma. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that, during 2004, about 1 million new cases of basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma and about 59,350 new cases of malignant melanoma will be diagnosed. Skin cancer will likely claim the lives of approximately 9,800 Americans in 2004.

Exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays appears to be the most important environmental factor involved in the development of skin cancer. When used consistently, sun-protective practices can prevent skin cancer. UV rays from artificial sources of light, such as tanning beds and sunlamps, are as dangerous as those from the sun and should also be avoided. Although both tanning and burning can increase a person’s risk of skin cancer, most Americans do not consistently protect themselves from UV rays. A survey sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that approximately 43% of white children under age 12 had at least one sunburn during the past year.

Who Is at Risk?

Although anyone can develop skin cancer, some people are at particular risk. Risk factors include

Scientists believe they can switch on the natural process that stops cancerous tumors from growing.

Experiments with skin cancer cells show they can be frozen into a permanent state of suspended animation, which stops them multiplying. The cells do not die, but the uncontrolled cell division characteristic of cancer is halted.

Many scientists have investigated the coma-like effect, known as senescene, but the British team is believed to be the first to show it can be re-activated once disabled.

Scientists hope the discovery will lead to new treatments for malignant melanoma reports the Daily Express.

MORE TOPICS
Showers could lead to brain damage
13:55 Monday 4th July 2005
Women given access to cancer drug
A pill that could reduce the risk of breast cancer recurring by 75 per cent is to be made available to thousands of women.
07:56 Tuesday 28th June 2005
'Avoid soya if you want a baby'
Women who eat soya could reduce their chances of getting pregnant.
08:53 Wednesday 22nd June 2005
World's most economical car
Swiss researchers have developed the world's most economical car that could circle the globe on only eight litres of fuel.
10:36 Monday 27th June 2005
 

Skin cancer breakthrough

[Posted: Mon 10/06/2002]

http://www.irishhealth.com/index.html?level=4&id=1545

Skin cancer breakthrough

Gene explains why men are at higher risk of malignant melanoma

Although most people associate melanoma with exposure to UV light, through excessive sunbathing for example, the disease can be inherited – indicating that faulty genes are also partly to blame. Genetic risk factors also affect the likelihood of individuals suffering from non-inherited, or sporadic, melanoma.

To identify these risk factors, researchers from the University Hospital in Tuebingen took blood samples from 450 healthy volunteers, and 500 people who had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma, from which they could extract DNA. In collaboration with Genefinder Technologies Ltd., Munich, Germany and Sequenom Inc., San Diego, USA, the researchers studied the DNA samples, looking for slight differences in the genes between people with melanoma skin cancer and people with no cancers at all. To do this they screened more than 25,000 sites across the whole genome, which are known to vary naturally between different people.

The researchers identified a gene called BRAF that contains several sites of natural variation. Some variants were more likely to be found in people who suffered from melanoma than in those that did not. But, when the data was separated by sex, it appeared that the variants only conferred a higher risk of suffering from melanoma on men who carried them.

At present, men have a 1 in 58 chance, and women a 1 in 82 chance of developing the disease in their lifetime. The researchers write: "BRAF may be one explanation of why males have an increased lifetime incidence of melanoma compared to females".

Until now, the best-known risk factor for melanoma was if you had a mutated copy of the gene CDKN2A. This gene could explain about 25% of the inherited cases of melanoma, which equates to about 1% of the total number of cases.

The risk associated with BRAF is much more significant. The researchers write: "We estimate that BRAF could account for an attributable risk of developing melanoma of approximately 4% in the German population. This risk estimate is much higher than that attributed to CDKN2A."

Dr. Peter Meyer, the managing researcher of this study, said: "It will be exciting to learn more about whether BRAF is also associated with melanoma-risk in other populations with higher melanoma incidences like Australians."

The BRAF gene encodes a protein that activates the growth and multiplication of cells. Recent studies have shown that mutations in BRAF, which cause the protein to become more active, are commonly found in melanomas and moles. The variants that have been identified in this study do not have any effects on the activity of the protein – how they increase the risk of suffering from melanoma is currently unknown.

Professor Claus Garbe, the principal investigator of the project said: "Moles are a major risk factor for the development of malignant melanoma. BRAF mutations occur in the majority of melanomas but also in moles. We are therefore interested in addressing the question of whether carrying certain variants of the BRAF gene could predispose people to having or developing more moles, and thus to an increased risk of developing melanoma"

Dr. Goppala Kovvali, the Editor-in-chief of Journal of Carcinogenesis said: "This article is an important contribution to the field of carcinogenesis. I anticipate that several studies will be undertaken to investigate the BRAF gene in connection with melanoma, especially in the United States and Australia where skin cancer is one of the common cancers."

The incidence of malignant melanoma has rapidly increased in recent years. It is the leading cause of death from skin disease, as once the cancer has spread it is resistant to most available treatments.

This release is based on the following article:
Polymorphisms of the BRAF Gene Predispose Males to Malignant Melanoma Peter Meyer, Consolato Sergi and Claus Garbe Journal of Carcinogenesis 2003, 2:7 http://www.carcinogenesis.com/content/2/1/7.
Published 14 November 2003

For further information about this research please contact Peter Meyer by email at Peter.Meyer@onkogenetik.de or by phone on 49-89-43-57-98-33.

Alternatively, please contact Gemma Bradley by email at press@biomedcentral.com or by phone on 44-20-7323-0323.

Journal of Carcinogenesis (http://www.carcinogenesis.com/home/) is published by BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com), an independent online publishing house committed to providing immediate free access to peer-reviewed biological and medical research. This commitment is based on the view that open access to research is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of science. BioMed Central currently publishes over 100 open access journals across biology and medicine. In addition to open-access original research, BioMed Central also publishes reviews and other subscription-based content.

This site is best viewed with your screen resolution set to 800 x 600 or greater.
Your current resolution is set to: