Melanoma may be related to genetics

According to a recent study, multiple melanomas may be related to genetic factors. Dr. Jeannet J. Stam-Posthuma and his colleagues from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands conducted a retrospective study on 56 melanoma patients to analyze the risk factors of the disease. These patients had a total of 157 melanomas.

Of these patients, 64% had a family history of melanoma and 70.8% had a family history of dysplastic nevi. Eighty-two percent of the 50 patients examined had dysplastic nevi. Sixty percent of the patients had both clinically confirmed dysplastic nevi and a family history of melanoma.

The mean age of patients at melanoma diagnosis was 38.2 years, and 58.9% of patients were younger than 40 years. The mean interval between the first and second melanoma resection was 34.3 months. In 76.8% of cases, the second melanoma was in a different anatomical site than the first tumor.

Dr. Stam-Posthuma's team concluded, "The high incidence of dysplastic nevi in ​​the patient and his family members, the high frequency of family history of melanoma, and the early onset of melanoma suggest that a genetic factor is involved in the development of multiple melanomas. Therefore, patients with one of these risk factors should be particularly careful."