Risk factors for melanoma considered

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Those with a family history of melanoma run an increased risk of developing this cancer, according to a study.
Invasive melanoma is an important cause of cancer death so there's clearly keen interest in discovering risk factors for the condition. Scientists at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center have been looking at a group of 4,484 patients with multiple primary melanoma.

They found that 21 per cent had a family history of melanoma and 38 per cent had atypical moles on their skin. The findings suggest that it is important that those who have either risk factor should have ongoing dermatology surveillance so that early diagnosis and treatment of melanoma can be made available to them. Further study of this sub-set of melanoma patients would also be important in helping further our understanding of the disease.

Source
Journal of the American Medical Association 5th October 2005 Volume 294 pages 1647-1654