Researchers explained the cause of higher risk of melanoma among red-haired people because they contain a kind of skin pigment called Pheomelanin.
"We've known for a long time that people with red hair and fair skin have the highest melanoma risk of any skin type," says David Fisher, M.D., Ph.D., chief of the MGH Department of Dermatology, director of the CBRC. "These new findings do not increase that risk but identify a new mechanism to help explain. This may provide an opportunity to develop better sunscreens and other measures that directly address this pigmentation-associated risk while continuing to protect against UV radiation, which remains our first line of defense against melanoma and other skin cancers."
Human skin contains different types of pigment melanin which has a direct effect in a person's complexion and color of hair. Eumelanin is a dark brown or black melanin and is common among people with dark hair or dark skin, whereas Pheomelanin which is lighter blond to red melanin is majorly found among red hair and fair skin people.
"There is something about the redhead genetic background that is behaving in a carcinogenic fashion, independent of UV," Fisher said. He also added that protection from UV rays would not be enough. "Even if you're good about avoiding UV rays - you know, putting on sunscreen, wearing protective clothes and being careful at the beach - it's still possible this red pigment is related to carcinogenic activity anyway," he added.
An experiment was conducted on a mouse to test the theory. Mice with similar genes were taken except for the gene which lacked enzyme needed to synthesize melanin.
The experiment showed how mice with different coat color developed melanoma in absence of UV light. Less than a quarter of black and white mice developed melanoma after a year, while the red mice developed within a year.
Eugene Healy, a clinical dermatologist at the University of Southampton, UK, said it would not be right to alarm people with fair complexions of melanoma as 8 out of 10 cases of melanoma in the UK are due to UV exposure.
"Whatever risk was there, was always there. But we don't see lots of spontaneous melanomas in redheads," Healy said. "We shouldn't be sending out a worrying message for them."
