588 | id == 588
588 | category_id == 63
588 | category_order == 28
588 | category_name == Skin Health
588 | category_color == #C47AC0
588 | slug == SLC45A2-melanoma
588 | title == A Pigment-Producing Structure & Its Role in Melanoma (SLC45A2)
588 | meta_description == SLC45A2 is involved in melanin production. Variants of SLC45A2 have been associated with melanoma. Read more here.
588 | summary == <p style="text-align:justify"><strong><em>SLC45A2</em> may be involved in the production of the pigment melanin. How might variants of <em>SLC45A2</em> promote the progression of melanoma? Read more to find out.</strong></p>
588 | overall_score_text == Your Melanoma Score (based on SLC45A2 gene)
588 | image == https://sd-selfdecode-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/background/SLC45A2-RXFP3-Melanoma.jpg
588 | author_id == 14
588 | author_name == Shany Lahan
588 | author_title == MS (Neuroscience)
588 | author_order == 5
588 | author_photo == https://sd-selfdecode-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/author-photo/Shany.webp
588 | author_intro == <p>Shany received her MSc in Neuroscience from Western University.</p>    <p>Prior to joining SelfDecode, Shany conducted research related to Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease, and taught science to undergraduate students. She believes that research should be accessible to everyone, regardless of scientific background. Shany joined SelfDecode&nbsp;with a mission to help others optimize their health and wellbeing &ndash; as well as help them understand the science behind it all.</p>
588 | reviewer == None
588 | medical_reviewer_id == 11
588 | medical_reviewer_name == Puya Yazdi
588 | medical_reviewer_title == MD
588 | publish_date == 2021
588 | publish_date == 1
588 | publish_date == 6
588 | avg_rating == 5.0
588 | tags_id == 164
588 | tags_name == Cancer
588 | tags_id == 1054
588 | tags_name == Melanin
588 | tags_id == 1097
588 | tags_name == Melanocyte
588 | tags_id == 1100
588 | tags_name == Melanoma
588 | tags_id == 1105
588 | tags_name == Melanosome
588 | tags_id == 1053
588 | tags_name == Pigmentation
588 | tags_id == 1101
588 | tags_name == Skin Cancer
588 | tags_id == 1098
588 | tags_name == Skin Color
588 | tags_id == 1106
588 | tags_name == SLC45A2 Gene
588 | permissions_favorite == False
588 | permissions_rate == False
588 | content_article == <h2 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Summary</strong></h2> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #e8ebfc; border-left: 2px solid #4569fa; display: block; padding: 20px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">SLC45A2 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">may be involved in the production of melanin, a double-edged pigment. A variant of </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">SLC45A2 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">may play a role in melanoma by altering melanin production. Lifestyle, diet, and supplement modifications may counteract the effects of this variant by limiting the production of melanin. </span></span></p> <h2 style="text-align: justify;"><strong><em>SLC45A2</em></strong><strong> and Melanoma</strong></h2> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a href="https://selfdecode.com/gene/slc45a2/"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">SLC45A2</span></em></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">gene codes for solute carrier family 45 member 2 (SLC45A2), a protein that may help transport molecules within cells called melanocytes. These molecules are likely to be important for the proper function of melanosomes, or melanin-producing structures found within melanocytes [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/51151"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/gene/slc45a2/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Melanin is a pigment that may play a role in a type of skin cancer called melanoma. In melanoma, DNA-damaged melanocytes divide uncontrollably [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4450257/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].&nbsp;</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Although melanin may offer a protective function by blocking UV rays and preventing DNA damage prior to melanoma incidence, it may also hinder the efficacy of therapies during the course of this disease, thereby promoting melanoma progression [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4450257/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26881706/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Variants of </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">SLC45A2 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">have been associated with melanoma. These variants may alter the production of SLC45A2, leading to dysregulated melanin production and consequent disease progression</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25826379/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5392271/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5392271/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <h2 style="text-align: left;"><strong>Your </strong><strong><em>SLC45A2</em></strong><strong> Results for Melanoma</strong></h2> <p style="text-align: justify;">*2176399146057526*</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Primary SNP:</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><em>SLC45A2 </em></strong><a href="https://selfdecode.com/snp/rs16891982/"><strong>rs16891982</strong></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25826379/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5392271/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">]</span></p> <ul style="text-align: justify;"> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&lsquo;G&rsquo; = Higher odds of melanoma&nbsp;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&lsquo;C&rsquo; = Not associated with melanoma</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Other Important SNPs:</strong></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong><em>SLC45A2 </em></strong><a href="https://selfdecode.com/snp/rs35407/"><strong>rs35407</strong></a> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5392271/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">]</span></p> <ul style="text-align: justify;"> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&lsquo;G&rsquo; = Higher odds of melanoma</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">&lsquo;A&rsquo; = Not associated with melanoma</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align: justify;">*9022155587650273*</p> <h2 style="text-align: left;"><strong>Recommendations for Preventing Melanoma</strong></h2> <p style="text-align: justify;">*4616059387859088*</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">As described above, low levels of SLC45A2 may promote melanoma incidence, while high levels may promote melanoma progression. The recommendations below offer ways to balance the effects of SLC45A2 by preventing excessive melanin increases, or slightly lowering melanin production.</span></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Lifestyle</strong></h3> <h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Reducing UV Exposure</strong></h4> <p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://selfhacked.com/blog/avoiding-sun-will-kill-14-proven-science-based-health-benefits-sun/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">UV</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> radiation may worsen the effects of </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">SLC45A2 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">risk variants by exacerbating the production of melanin [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11851885/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15921859/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Excessive, unprotected exposure to UV radiation is by far the main risk factor for the development of melanoma. As mentioned above, UV from both the sun and artificial sources (tanning beds and sun lamps) damages the DNA of melanocytes, potentially causing mutations that turn these cells into melanomas [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25398793/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29936410/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24629998/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">People with low levels of melanin, who typically have fair skin, blond or red hair, and light-colored eyes, are at higher risk of melanoma than those with dark skin [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31002590"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Alternatively, every single mole has a small probability of turning into cancer. Having a high number of moles, especially if they are large or have atypical features, also increases the risk of this skin cancer type [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2545764/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26934430"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Reducing UV radiation by limiting sun exposure (especially in the middle of the day), wearing protective clothing and sunscreen, and being aware of skin-sensitizing medications can greatly reduce the risk of melanoma.</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #e8ebfc; border-left: 2px solid #4569fa; display: block; padding: 20px;">Reducing UV exposure may help prevent melanoma by limiting the production of melanin.</span></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Diet</strong></h3> <h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Coffee</strong></h4> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Spent coffee grounds, coffee polyphenols, coffee silverskin, and coffee oil have all been shown to attenuate the production of melanin [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27375763/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32104042/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30675376/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28919754/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">High coffee intake is the main protective dietary factor and has been associated with a reduced incidence of melanoma in multiple large-scale studies. In line with the ability of </span><a href="https://selfhacked.com/blog/caffeine-benefits/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">caffeine</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to prevent UV-induced burns (observed in animal studies), caffeinated coffee provided stronger protection against melanoma than decaffeinated coffee [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25325307/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311176/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26695410/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26547919/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4729676/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4600068/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6198927/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28891369/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6072575/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32740173/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4966737/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #e8ebfc; border-left: 2px solid #4569fa; display: block; padding: 20px;">Coffee may help prevent melanoma by limiting the production of melanin.</span></p> <h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Supplements</strong></h3> <h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Coenzyme Q10</strong></h4> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Multiple studies have demonstrated that </span><a href="https://selfhacked.com/blog/coenzyme-q10-ubiquinol/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">coenzyme Q10</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (</span><a href="https://selfhacked.com/blog/coenzyme-q10-ubiquinol/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">CoQ10</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">) supplementation may ameliorate UV damage and lower the production of melanin [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30991050/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22339577/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Conversely, low blood levels of CoQ10 have been associated with both melanoma incidence and melanoma progression [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16443053"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a small study of people with early-stage melanoma, supplementation with CoQ10 (400 mg/day, for 3 years) as an add-on to interferon therapy reduced the rates of recurrence without causing adverse effects [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17505263/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: #e8ebfc; border-left: 2px solid #4569fa; display: block; padding: 20px;">Coenzyme Q10 may help prevent and manage melanoma by limiting the production of melanin.</span></p>
588 | content_snp_table_2176399146057526_key == 2176399146057526
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588 | content_learn_more_9022155587650273_text == Based on the variants we looked at, your SLC45A2 gene makes you somewhat more likely to develop melanoma. However, this doesn't necessarily reflect your overall risk of melanoma; it’s just one gene related to it. Reducing UV exposure, drinking coffee, and supplementing with coenzyme Q10 may help. Keep scrolling to find out more.
588 | content_recommendation_4616059387859088_key == 4616059387859088
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rsIDs = rs35407,rs16891982
rsStatus = rs35407,SLC45A2,chr5,33946466,A,C,G,,14,0,Normal
rsStatus = rs16891982,SLC45A2,chr5,33951588,C,A,G,,30,0,Normal
