New York: Some of the most deadly skin cancers may start in stem cells that lend colour to hair, and originate in hair follicles rather than in skin layers, says a new study. Hair follicles are complex organs that reside within skin layers. It is there that immature pigment-making cells develop cancer-causing genetic changes — and in a second step — are exposed to normal hair growth signals.
The study found that unlike their normal counterparts, newly cancerous pigment stem cells then migrate up and out of the follicles to establish melanomas in nearby surface skin before spreading deeper.
The study was conducted in genetically engineered mice, with the results confirmed in human tissue samples. “By confirming that oncogenic pigment cells in hair follicles are a bona fide source of melanoma, we have a better understanding of this cancer’s biology and new ideas about how to counter it,” said study author Mayumi Ito Suzuki, Associate Professor at New York University.
The study addresses the stem cells that mature into melanocytes, cells that make the protein pigment melanin, which protects skin by absorbing some of the sun’s ultraviolet, DNA-damaging rays.
—IANS
