Associations Between Sun Sensitive Pigmentary Genes and Serum Prostate Specific Antigen Levels

    March 2018 in “ PloS one ”
    Visalini Nair‐Shalliker, Sam Egger, Agata Chrzanowska, Rebecca S. Mason, Louise M. Waite, David Le Couteur, Markus J. Seibel, David J. Handelsman, Robert Cumming, David P. Smith, Bruce K. Armstrong
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    TLDR Men with less sun-sensitive skin have lower PSA levels, while men with more sun-sensitive skin have higher PSA levels.
    This study investigated the relationship between serum PSA levels, a prostate cancer risk factor, and variants in melanoma-associated pigmentary genes in 1033 men aged 70+ from the Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project. It found that men with variants in SLC45A2, associated with less sun-sensitive skin, had lower PSA levels. Conversely, men with variants in MC1R and ASIP, associated with more sun-sensitive skin, had higher PSA levels if born in Australia or New Zealand. The study suggested that androgens might influence these associations, indicating that PSA levels and potentially prostate cancer risk could vary with sun sensitivity and exposure, modified by androgen levels.
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