Common Causes And Risk Factors For Subungual Melanoma

Age

Individuals of advanced ages are at a higher risk of developing subungual melanoma than younger individuals. This risk factor is common among hundreds of cancer types, making the median age of all cancer diagnoses around sixty-six years old. Advanced age contributes to the development process of subungual melanoma in several ways. An older individual has had a more significant amount of accumulated and compounded skin damage from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun, which is known to cause the development of malignancy. Individuals of an older age are more likely to have experienced injury and or trauma to the fingernail and or toenail areas than younger individuals, which also increases the risk of subungual melanoma. Older individuals have an overall less efficient immune system, and their body has a greater tendency to make repairs to cells with DNA damage rather than destroying and replacing them the way a younger individual's body would. Cellular damage mediated by repair is more likely to experience mishaps that result in mutations in the cellular DNA. This variability with age occurs because a less effective ability to produce new cells in the body is a part of the natural aging process. An individual's older age, in combination with other risk factors for subungual melanoma, is what makes them more likely to develop it.

Darker Skin

An individual who has a darker skin tone is more likely to develop subungual melanoma than those who have a lighter complexion. Light skinned individuals are at a higher risk of developing skin cancer when referring to all forms, but dark-skinned individuals have a higher risk for the types that occur in non-sun-exposed areas. The exact mechanism behind the higher prevalence of melanoma on non-sun exposed areas of the skin in individuals with darker skin is not known, but it is thought to be associated with the fact these areas have skin that is typically a lighter color than the sun-exposed areas. For example, the skin underneath the fingernail is of a lighter color than the skin surrounding them. Most cases of subungual melanoma in individuals who have darker skin are initiated as the result of an injury or trauma to the fingernail or toenail. Subungual melanoma in individuals who have darker skin is usually diagnosed at a later stage when the melanoma has spread into other tissues. The fact melanoma is visually less noticeable in such places on the body like the fingernails in darker-skinned individuals makes it have a poor prognosis in comparison with that of lighter-skinned individuals.