close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffFactors that may increase your risk of melanoma include:
- Fair skin. Having less pigment (melanin) in your skin means you have less protection from damaging UV radiation. If you have blond or red hair, light-colored eyes, and you freckle or sunburn easily, you're more likely to develop melanoma than is someone with a darker complexion. But melanoma can develop in people with darker complexions, including Hispanics and blacks.
- A history of sunburn. One or more severe, blistering sunburns as a child or teenager can increase your risk of melanoma as an adult.
- Excessive ultraviolet (UV) light exposure. Exposure to UV radiation, which comes from the sun and from tanning beds, can increase the risk of skin cancer, including melanoma.
- Living closer to the equator or at a higher elevation. People living closer to the earth's equator, where the sun's rays are more direct, experience higher amounts of UV radiation, as compared with those living in higher latitudes. In addition, if you live at a high elevation you're exposed to more UV radiation.
- Having many moles or unusual moles. Having more than 50 ordinary moles on your body indicates an increased risk of melanoma. Also, having an unusual type of mole increases the risk of melanoma. Known medically as dysplastic nevi, these tend to be larger (greater than 1/5 inch or 5 millimeters) than normal moles and have irregular borders and a mixture of colors.
- A family history of melanoma. If a close relative, such as a parent, child or sibling, has had melanoma, you have a greater chance of developing it too.
- Weakened immune system. People with weakened immune systems have an increased risk of skin cancer. This includes people who have HIV/AIDS and those who have undergone organ transplants.
References
- What you need to know about melanoma. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/melanoma/allpages. Accessed April 19, 2010.
- Lange JR, et al. Melanoma. In: Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2008:1229.
- Melanoma: What it looks like. SkinCancerNet. http://www.skincarephysicians.com/skincancernet/melanoma.html. Accessed April 24, 2010.
- Albreski D, et al. Melanoma of the feet: Misdiagnosed and misunderstood. Clinics in Dermatology. 2009;27:556.
- Hussein MR. Extracutaneous malignant melanomas. Cancer Investigation. 2008;26:516.
- Elder DE. Dysplastic naevi: An update. Histopathology. 2010;56:112.
- Smith RA, et al. Cancer screening in the United States, 2009: A review of current American Cancer Society guidelines and issues in cancer screening. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 2009;59:27.
- Skin examinations. SkinCancerNet. http://www.skincarephysicians.com/skincancernet/skin_examinations.html. Accessed April 24, 2010.
- Can melanoma be found early? American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_3X_Can_melanoma_be_found_early_50.asp?sitearea=. Accessed April 24, 2010.
- Skin cancer screening. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/screening/skin/healthprofessional/allpages. Accessed April 19, 2010.
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for skin cancer: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation statement. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2009;150:188.
- Melanoma. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/PDF/melanoma.pdf. Accessed April 19, 2010.
- Melanoma treatment. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/treatment/melanoma/healthprofessional/allpages. Accessed April 19, 2010.
- Lazovich D, et al. Indoor tanning and risk of melanoma: A case-control study in a highly exposed population. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. 2010;19(6):1557. http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2010/05/21/1055-9965.EPI-09-1249.full.pdf. Accessed May 27, 2010.
- Yervoy (prescribing information). Princeton, N.J.: Bristol-Myers Squibb; 2011. http://packageinserts.bms.com/pi/pi_yervoy.pdf. Accessed Dec. 19, 2011.
Find Mayo Clinic on