Nevus phenotype, genetics increase risk of second primary melanomas

Source: Healio, December 2022

Second primary melanomas are more likely to develop in patients with more nevi and a high genetic predisposition to melanoma, according to a study.

“This study shows that people who develop two or more melanomas, on average, have higher nevus burden and higher genetic risk for melanoma than people who develop only one melanoma,” David C. Whiteman, MD, PhD, a senior scientist in the cancer control group at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Herston, Queensland, Australia, told Healio. “This suggests that some people are ‘super-susceptible’ to the development of melanoma and are therefore predisposed to developing multiple primary melanomas during their lifetime.”

The population-based prospective cohort study included 38,845 patients (mean age at baseline, 56.1 years; age range, 40-69 years; 54.7% women) reporting white European ancestry. Each participant answered a baseline survey, while researchers calculated a polygenic risk score (PRS) for melanoma in a subset of patients (n = 15,381).
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