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Skin cancer and folate metabolism

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Book cover Handbook of diet, nutrition and the skin

Part of the book series: Human Health Handbooks no. 1 ((HHH,volume 2))

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Abstract

Skin cancer is the most common malignancy in the Caucasian population in the Western world. The incidence of the three major types of skin cancer - basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma - continues to increase. Skin cancers are broadly divided into melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers. Melanoma accounts for 4% of all skin cancers however it is responsible for 80% of deaths from skin cancer. Non melanoma skin cancers are locally destructive and the expense of their removal is a significant economic burden to the healthcare system. Individual risk for skin cancer is due to a combination of risk factors. Well known risk factors include ultraviolet exposure and skin type. In transplant patients immunosuppression plays a major role and squamous cell carcinoma is an important cause of mortality in this group. In the following chapter the relevance of folate metabolism and skin cancer is discussed including our recent findings on the folate metabolic pathway and squamous cell carcinoma in renal transplant patients.

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Abbreviations

8-MOP:

8-methoxypsoralen

AK:

Actinic keratosis

BCC:

Basal cell carcinoma

CT:

Heterozygotes

DNA:

Deoxyribonucleic acid

EBV:

Epstein-Barr virus

ECP:

Extracorporeal photopheresis

GvHD:

Graft-versus-host disease

HPV:

Human papilloma virus

MGMT:

Methyl guanine DNA methyltransferase

MTHFR:

Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase

NMSC:

Non-melanoma skin cancer

NTD:

Neural tube defects

RTR:

Renal transplant recipients

SAM:

S-adenosyl-l-methionine

SCC:

Squamous cell carcinoma

SNP:

Single nucleotide polymorphism

TMECG:

Trimethoxybenzoyl-(-)-epicatechin

UVA:

Ultraviolet A

UVB:

Ultraviolet B

UVR:

Ultraviolet radiation

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dermatology Specialist Registrar, Beaumont Hospital, 1297, Beaumont Road, Dublin 9, Ireland

    M. Laing

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  1. M. Laing
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Correspondence to M. Laing .

Editor information

Victor R. Preedy

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© 2012 Wageningen Academic Publishers

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Laing, M. (2012). Skin cancer and folate metabolism. In: Preedy, V.R. (eds) Handbook of diet, nutrition and the skin. Human Health Handbooks no. 1, vol 2. Wageningen Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-729-5_23

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