Combining genetic and sun exposure data improves skin cancer risk estimates

Source: Ecancer News, November 2018

By combining data on individuals’ lifetime sun exposure and their genetics, researchers can generate improved predictions of their risk of skin cancer, according to findings presented at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2018 Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif.

Pierre Fontanillas, PhD, and colleagues at 23andMe, Inc., collected genetic and survey data from over 210,000 consented research participants of European descent.

They analyzed the data to identify correlations between previously known and potentially novel skin cancer risk factors and the occurrence of three forms of skin cancer: melanoma, basal cell carcinoma (BCC), and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).