The following is a summary of “Skin cancer risk is increased by somatic mutations detected noninvasively in healthy-appearing sun-exposed skin,” published in the October 2024 issue of Dermatology by Kaur et al.
Skin cancer risk has elevated due to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure, with age and lighter skin tone as risk factors due to cumulative UVR exposure and susceptibility.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to design a non-invasive test that quantifies somatic mutations in healthy-appearing sun-exposed skin and to evaluate its ability to calculate skin cancer risk.
They examined 1,038 subjects, quantifying somatic mutations in healthy-appearing sun-exposed skin. To train a model, these mutations were combined with known skin cancer risk factors (such as age, family history, and skin tone). The final model, DNA-Skin Cancer Assessment of Risk, was trained to predict the personal history of skin cancer using mutation counts alongside the other risk factors.
The results showed that adding mutation count significantly improved model performance (OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 1.14–1.48; P = 5.3 × 10-6) and contributed more remarkably than skin tone. Calculations of skin cancer risk matched the known prevalence in the United States, indicating the model was well-calibrated.
They concluded somatic mutations in healthy-appearing sun-exposed skin increased skin cancer risk, capturing risk information not accounted for by other risk factors. The non-invasive nature of skin sample collection through adhesive patches supported clinical utility.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022202X24001763
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