Graham Mann on Genetic Mutations in Different Types of Melanoma

Graham Mann, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, professor of Medicine, Westmead Clinical School and co-director of the Centre for Cancer Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research at the University of Sydney in Australia, discusses his findings from the Australian Melanoma Genome Project, which were presented at the 2016 Society for Melanoma Research (SMR) Congress.

Mann and his colleagues found that there are many differing genetic mutations for each patient and melanoma tumor types, such as melanoma that occurred on the skin, inside the body or on extremities.

One particular finding that Mann was interested to see was that melanoma that occurred on patients' fingertips and toes usually showed no sign of sun damage. This is particularly surprising because these are typically the body parts that have the least pigmentation, especially for African Americans. This finding emphasized the need for further research into the cause of this type of melanoma.