Medical researchers in Australia have shown that a gene known to have a strong connection to obesity and other bodyweight related health issues also increases the risk of suffering from melanoma.<\/p>\n
The study published today in the medical journal Nature Genetics, shows that genetic variation in the FTO gene, which is\u00a0carried by 15 per cent of the population, increases melanoma risk by 16 per cent.<\/p>\n
The association study, led by the international Consortium, GenoMEL,, involved Australian scientists from the Queensland\u00a0Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane and the Westmead Millennium Institute in Sydney.<\/p>\n
This Australian collaboration contributed data on over 6000 Australians, including melanoma patients, which was combined\u00a0with data from studies in Europe and the United States, giving a combined population of more than 62,000 people.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first time the FTO gene has been shown to be related to something other than Body Mass Index.<\/p>\n
Professor Graham Mann from the University of Sydney at the Westmead Millennium Institute and the Melanoma Institute\u00a0Australia says the discovery sheds some light on how the FTO gene works.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve known for some time that FTO has a major influence on body weight and is connected to many of the health\u00a0problems that go with bodyweight but the findings of this study broaden the FTO gene\u2019s importance to medical science,\u201d\u00a0said Professor Mann.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to look more closely at how FTO controls cell growth because a better understanding of that might give us novel\u00a0ways of controlling melanoma risk.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the hopes for the future is that there may be medications which can be taken in the long term that reduce the risk of\u00a0particular cancers like melanoma.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Australia has the highest rate of skin cancers in the world. While melanoma is the least common form of skin cancer it is the\u00a0most life threatening.<\/p>\n
In 2010, 1452 Australians died from the disease.<\/p>\n
Dr Matthew Law from Queensland Institute of Medical Research said this sort of research that comes from assembling\u00a0large research populations is only possible through national and international collaborations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAustralian scientists have long been at the forefront of melanoma research and this work reinforces the contributions we\u00a0make to worldwide efforts to understand this deadly disease.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Professor Mann said the discovery of the link between FTO and melanoma adds to the rapidly growing list of genes\u00a0associated with increased risk of the cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is clear that there are a lot of genetic variations that increase our risk of getting cancer and in the case of melanoma we\u00a0have been able to show over the last five years that there are at least 15 genes that contribute to our risk and probably a lot\u00a0more,\u201d said Professor Mann.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are working quite hard at putting these genetic discoveries to build a profile of people who are at greater risk of getting\u00a0melanoma and therefore tailoring their care and prevention.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study into the link between the FTO gene and melanoma was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical\u00a0Research Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Medical researchers in Australia have shown that a gene known to have a strong connection to obesity and other bodyweight related health issues also increases the risk of suffering from melanoma. The study published today in the medical journal Nature Genetics, shows that genetic variation in the FTO gene, which is\u00a0carried by 15 per cent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2446,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[19],"class_list":["post-2487","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}