The alarming warning about those dots on your eye
While at first glance it may just look like an innocent dot on your eye, researchers have now found that freckles and moles appearing on the iris indicate a higher risk of melanoma.
Researchers at the University of Queensland found that the presence of “pigmented lesions” added to the risk of developing a melanoma, particularly for people under 40 years of age.
“We found the presence of three or more iris pigmented lesions was associated with a 45 percent increased risk of melanoma,” Dermatology Research Centre’s Associate Professor Rick Sturm said.
“The presence of iris freckling and naevi (moles), provides additional information about an individual’s melanoma risk over and above factors like blue eyes, red hair, fair skin and the number of moles on the skin.”
The study examined 1117 participants of European background living in southeast Queensland.
Results showed that those with freckles and moles evident on their iris were 1.45 times more likely to develop melanoma.
Melanoma is the most common cancer in Australians aged 15 to 39.
“Despite many new advances in treatments, long term prognosis remains poor, therefore early detection is still key in reducing the burden of the disease,” Dr Antonia Laino added.
“It’s very easy to look for iris pigmented lesions, and we hope that these findings will help doctors identify those people who may be at increased risk of melanoma and need a skin check.”
Newsbreak - January 17
