28-2-2024

Familial malignant melanoma - the dermatologist's perspective

Dr. Remco van Doorn is dermatologist at Leiden University Medical Center and at Netherlands Cancer Institute, with an interest in the genetics of melanoma.

Approximately 10% of patients diagnosed with melanoma have a positive family history for this cutaneous malignancy. In 1993, now 30 years ago, the major melanoma susceptibility gene CDKN2A was identified in a Dutch melanoma family. In a proportion of cases familial clustering of melanoma has not yet been satisfactorily explained. The dermatological surveillance of patients who often develop multiple melanoma from a young age poses challenges that are met by novel skin imaging technologies. During this webinar we will discuss the genetic basis of melanoma susceptibility, the role of ultraviolet radiation exposure in melanoma development and the methods for accurate skin examination currently applied by dermatologists.