If your skin makes ephelides instead of tanning, you are at more risk for skin cancers. :( omim.org/entry/155555?search=red%20hair&highlight=hair%20red "Ephelides and solar lentigines are different types of pigmented skin lesions. Ephelides (freckles) appear early in childhood and are associated with fair skin type and red hair. Solar lentigines appear with increasing age and are a sign of photodamage. Both lesions are strong risk indicators for melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer. In a large case-control study, Bastiaens et al. (2001) studied patients with melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer and subjects without a history of skin cancer. Carriers of 1 or 2 MC1R gene variants had a 3- and 11-fold increased risk of developing ephelides, respectively (both P less than 0.0001), whereas the risk of developing severe solar lentigines was increased 1.5- and 2-fold (P = 0.035 and P less than 0.0001), respectively. These associations were independent of skin type and hair color, and were comparable in patients with and without a history of skin cancer. The population attributable risk for ephelides to MC1R gene variants was 60%, and a dosage effect was found between the degree of ephelides and the number of MC1R gene variants. As nearly all individuals with ephelides were carriers of at least 1 MC1R gene variant, the authors proposed that MC1R gene variants may be necessary to develop ephelides, and may play a less important role in the development of solar lentigines."
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 01:06:26 +0000
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