Study to aid fight on skin cancers

NEW Queensland research, carried out over nine years, will help dermatologists determine a patient’s risk of developing melanoma, and it is a numbers game.

University of Queensland Diamantina Institute researcher Associate Professor Rick Sturm has revealed that his team has uncovered the specific gene variations affecting the number and types of moles on the body and their role in causing skin cancer.

Three key mole classes, reticular, globular and nonspecific, were magnified under a dermoscope to assess their pattern and risk factors.

“We found people who had more non-specific mole patterns increased their melanoma risk by 2 per cent with every extra mole carried,” he said.

“As we age, we tend to increase the number of nonspecific moles on our body, and the risk of developing melanoma increases.”

Dr Sturm said globular and reticular mole patterns were also found to change over time.

“Globular patterns were shown to decrease as we get older, typically petering out after the age of 50 to 60. Reticular moles also decreased over time but were likely to head down a more dangerous path and develop into the nonspecific pattern,” he said.

A cohort of more than 1200 people, half melanoma patients, were recruited into the almost nine-year study.

“We found some major relationships between genes and the number of moles and patterns when looking at the DNA,” Dr Sturm said.

“Certain gene types influenced the number of different naevi types: for example, the IRF4 gene was found to strongly influence the number of globular naevi found on the body,” he said.

The findings will help dermatologists to better understand mole patterns and provide more holistic care to patients who may be at risk of melanoma.

“For a long time, clinicians have been interested in how pigmented moles relate to melanoma and melanoma risk,” Dr Sturm said.