Individuals with a variation of a Vitamin D gene, known as BSMI, have a greater risk of suffering from melanoma, a form of skin cancer that can be deadly. Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer. The chances of being diagnosed with skin cancer increase as we age, but it is one of the most common forms of cancer in young adults. Annually over 50,000 Americans are diagnosed with melanoma. When melanoma is found in its early stages, recovery is usually very positive. When melanoma grows deeper into the skin and spreads to other organs it is very hard to cure.
Vitamin D deficiencies have been linked to both colon and breast cancer. Now, through a new study, based on data from six previous studies, including 2,152 melanoma patients and 2,410 patients without melanoma, researchers discovered patients with the BSMI variant had a 30 percent higher risk of melanoma, as reported in the online edition of Cancer. During the study, scientist examined the effects of five vitamin D receptors gene variants and their added risks on melanoma. The researchers concluded that the FokI variant had no effect on the risk of melanoma and they were unable to draw a clear conclusion on the other variants effects, with the exception of BSMI, which increased risks for patients.
Non-melanoma skin cancer, formally known as basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma, is the most commonly developed skin cancer affecting 1 million people in the United States each year. It is often easily detected and, when treated properly, has a cure rate of 95 percent, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.
This type of cancer rarely spreads to other parts of the body, but it can extend below the skin to the bone and cause considerable local damage. Doctors already know that non-melanoma skin cancer places people at high risk for developing additional skin cancers, but new research indicates it may also increase the risk of developing other malignancies in the body.
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US chemists have identified the odor that emanates from skin cancer, a development that researchers hope will advance diagnosis and treatment of the deadly disease, said a study out Wednesday.
The creation of a “profile” of the chemical odors linked to skin cancer, may lead to a day when diagnoses can be made by waving a scanner over the skin, researchers told the annual conference of the American Chemical Society in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Read more
