Missing pieces of DNA structure is a red flag for deadly skin
cancer Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer and is
the leading cause of death from skin disease. Rates are steadily
increasing, and although risk increases with age, melanoma is
now frequently seen in young people. But what if we could
pinpoint when seemingly innocuous skin pigment cells mutate into
melanoma? Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have
achieved this. Teams led by Yujiang Geno Shi, PhD, from BWH's
Department of Medicine, and George F. Murphy, MD, from BWH's
Department of Pathology have discovered a new biomarker for the
lethal disease. The findings offer novel opportunities for skin
cancer diagnostics, treatment and prevention. The study will be
published on September 14, 2012 in Cell. "Dr. Shi and colleagues
have discovered an exciting new connection between the loss of a
specific chemical mark in the genome and the development of
melanoma," said Anthony Carter, PhD, of the National Institutes
of Health's N