Researchers studying genetic variants have found that the variants behind eye, hair and skin colour are also linked with the risk of skin cancer. A study published in Nature Genetics found clear links between pigmentation variants and cutaneous melanoma (CM) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC).
The researchers assessed 11 gene variants linked with freckles, sunburn, blond or brown hair, and brown, green or blue eyes, in people from Iceland (810 with melanoma and 36,723 without; 1,649 with BCC and 33,824 without), Sweden (1,033 with melanoma and 2,650 without) and Spain (278 with melanoma and 1,297 without).
Variants in the genes for the agouti signalling protein (ASIP, chromosome 20), tyrosinase (TYR, chromosome 11) and tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1, chromosome 9) were clearly linked with melanoma, and variants of ASIP or TYR with BCC.
In earlier reports, the same group had linked TPCN2 (a calcium channel gene on chromosome 11) with brown or blond hair, ASIP with sun sensitivity, freckles and red hair, and TYRP1 with blue versus green eyes in Dutch and Icelandic people. Other studies of melanoma patients have found further risk regions on chromosome 20.
Together, the studies suggest a complex relationship between calcium channel genes, pigmentation genes and skin cancer. Whatever your genes, fair skin, freckles and light hair and eyes mean you should take extra care in the sun.
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