Familial Melanoma Diagnosis Can Signal Higher Risk for Other Cancers

Source: Cleveland Clinic, June 2018

People with a higher incidence of cancer — multiple melanomas, melanoma and additional cancers or a family history of melanomas and other malignancies — can carry a higher risk for breast, prostate, brain and other cancers.

Nearly 1 in 5 of 81 patients evaluated, 18.5 percent, had a germline mutation on multiplex genetic testing. In addition, almost half of these mutations were associated with other tumor types.

“These familial traits are not only melanoma. It’s important for patients and their families to know which other cancers they may be at risk for,” says Pauline Funchain, MD, a hematologist and medical oncologist at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center and lead author of the study.