by Amanda B
Scientists at Iceland’s Decode Genetics have found two new genetic variations that may increase the risk of basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of Skin Cancer for people of European descent. The study showed the variations have nothing to do with skin color, but darker skin is known to play an important role in the protection against Skin Cancer. People with the two variations are found to be three times more likely to have basal cell carcinoma and twelve times more likely to have it if they have more than three variations. The disease is largely caused by exposure to ultraviolent rays of the sun and is easy to treat when detected early on. Unfortunately, the cancer can fight against treatment causing skin damage as well as bone and cartilage damage. More than 30,000 Europeans’ genes were analyzed to figure out what the impact of the genetic variation on chromosome one is. They found out it wasn’t related to either fair skin or pigmentation, and Karl Stefansson, chief executive of Decode’s, said that “Exposure to the sun has no direct impact on the genes, which add to the total risk of basal cell carcinoma,” In my opinion, this research sounds pretty confusing. It makes sense that people with a lot of variations in their genes have a higher chance of getting basal cell carcinoma. What confused me was that the study said exposure to sun had no direct impact on the genes, so I don’t understand how it can relate to people with basal cell carcinoma since the disease is mostly caused by exposure to sun. It makes me wonder though if the genetic variations relate to other forms of cancer as well. I believe there can be many different reasons for the cause and formation of basal cell carcinoma, and Iceland’s Decode Genetics should research other causes for the disease.
Source:
“Two More Genes Linked to Common Skin Cancer.” Yahoo! News. 12 Oct 2008. 14 Oct 2008.
