When people know the results of genetic tests confirming they have inherited an increased risk of developing melanoma, they follow skin cancer screening recommendations more proactively—much like those who have already been diagnosed with the potentially deadly disease, according to results of a study completed at the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute. and published in the June issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Tests for mutations in the CDKN2A gene can reveal a reason that melanomas "run" in families. The study evaluated the intent to follow, and the actual practice of, skin cancer early detection methods by members of families that carry CDKN2A gene mutations. Study participants were drawn from a group of Utahns who participated in the original "CDKN2A gene hunt" 10 to 12 years ago. They already knew that their family history might put them at increased risk for melanoma, and they had previously received melanoma prevention and screening education.
The results showed that people who tested positive for the CDKN2A mutation followed melanoma screening recommendations more carefully than before, even if they had not had a melanoma. In addition, knowing the test results did not lead family members without the mutation to decrease their screening measures.
"Before these studies, it was unclear whether reporting the results to family members who have been tested was valuable or potentially harmful to patients," said co-principal investigator Sancy Leachman, MD, PhD, director of the Tom C. Mathews Jr. Familial Melanoma Research Clinic (FMRC) and associate professor in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Leachman specializes in melanoma genetics.
Lisa Aspinwall, PhD, associate professor in the University of Utah Department of Psychology, is co-principal investigator on the studies. "We wanted to know whether learning their results helps people comply better with melanoma screening recommendations. We also wanted to know if people who find out that they are negative for the mutation decrease their efforts as a result of knowing their genetic status."
"People with a family history of melanoma who do not carry the mutation are still at almost twice the risk of developing melanoma as people in the general population," Leachman said.
Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer. The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 62,000 people will be diagnosed with the disease in 2008, and more than 8,000 will die of it. Cancer experts estimate that about ten percent of melanomas are associated with familial or inherited syndromes.
Source: University of Utah
Related stories:
Prototype test for predicting clinical outcome for melanoma patients
Investigators from the Melbourne Center of the international Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) and Pacific Edge Biotchnology Ltd today reported that they have developed a test to predict whether a patient will progress rapidly from Stage III melanoma to metastatic Stage IV cancer and death.
Researchers find gene therapy that kills pancreatic cancer cells
Researchers at the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine have published findings that implicate a new chemoprevention gene therapy (CGT) for preventing and treating pancreatic cancer, one of the most lethal and treatment-resistant forms of cancer.
Nanomaterials Key to New Strategies for Blocking Metastasis
A new treatment strategy using targeted nanoparticles to block metastasis with anti-cancer drugs leads to good results using significantly lower doses of toxic chemotherapy, with less collateral damage to surrounding tissue, according to a collaborative team of researchers at the Center of Nanotechnology for Treatment, Understanding, and Monitoring of Cancer at the University of California, San Diego. In designing this system, the investigators, led by David Cheresh, Ph.D., have identified what may become a generic method for using nanotechnology to target metastasis.
Discovery of gene mechanism could bring about new ways to treat metastatic cancer
Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Massey Cancer Center researchers have uncovered how a gene, melanoma differentiation associated gene-7/interleukin-24 (mda-7/IL-24), induces a bystander effect that kills cancer cells not directly receiving mda-7/IL-24 without harming healthy ones, a discovery that could lead to new therapeutic strategies to fight metastatic disease.
Patient's own infection-fighting T cells put late-stage melanoma into long-term remission
Case is first to show safety and effectiveness of using cloned cells alone to kill tumors
Researchers describe the first successful use of a human patient's cloned infection-fighting T cells as the sole therapy to put an advanced solid-tumor cancer into long-term remission. A team led by Cassian Yee, M.D., an associate member of the Clinical Research Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, reports these findings in the June 19 issue of the
New England Journal of Medicine.
Overcoming Drug Resistance—Nanoparticles Trigger Built-In Cell-Death Signal
One of the most vexing problems in treating cancer is the propensity of tumors to develop resistance to a wide range of anticancer drugs. Over 70 percent of ovarian cancer patients, for example, have drug-resistant tumors at the time of their initial diagnosis, and virtually all patients who relapse have drug-resistant tumors.
Cancer incidence and mortality in young people decreases with increasing deprivation
Results of research into the associations between cancer and socio-economic deprivation and affluence have shown that, in contrast to cancers in older people, the numbers of new cases and deaths from the disease in teenagers and young adults (TYAs) decrease with increasing deprivation.
Increased incidence of melanoma found in rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with methotrexate
A chronic, inflammatory disease of unknown origin, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects about 1 percent of adults worldwide. Marked by joint destruction, RA often leads to disability and diminished quality of life. It can also lead to an early death from cancer. Various studies have linked RA to an increased risk of Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia, myeloma, and lung cancer.