Melanoma, pancreatic cancer share genetic link. (Study Finding in Teens with Melanoma).

NEW YORK -- Melanoma research over the past year has shed new light on genetic clues to melanoma susceptibility and a better understanding of risk factors, Dr. Darrell S. Rigel said at the American Academy of Dermatology's Academy 2002 meeting.

These studies have focused on high-risk people, who develop melanoma in their teens and early 20's, but the findings have implications for a broader range of people as well.

One in 68 Americans will develop melanoma in their lifetimes, noted Dr. Rigel, clinical professor of dermatology at New York University in New York City during an update on skin cancer at the academy meeting. If trends persist, that rate will rise to 1 in 50 Americans by the year 2010.

One intriguing study from Germany recently demonstrated for the first time a significant association between melanoma and pancreatic adenocarcinoma (Onkologie 2513]:262-66, 2002).

Researchers at Philipps-Universitat in Marburg have identified 21 families with familial pancreatic cancer, 5 of whom also have malignant melanoma in their immediate families.

Families within the cohort have histories of breast, prostatic, colon, or lung cancer, leading investigators to theorize that predisposing mutations in the CDKN2A gene (with regard to melanoma) and the BRCA2 gene (with regard to breast cancer) may be shared risk factors for these types of malignancies.

A French study exploring genetic risk factors for melanoma also named CDKN2A as a target gene for susceptibility, along with CDK4 (Biochimie 84[1]:67-74, 2002). Mutations in a third gene, p14, are suspected of contributing to melanoma risk as well.