The Root Cause: Why People with Red Hair Are Prone to Skin Cancer

The Root Cause: Why People with Red Hair Are Prone to Skin Cancer

Red hair might look sexy on Sharon Osbourne, Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts, but if someone is a natural-born redhead, chances are they’ve been on the receiving end of too many jokes. The list includes Prince Harry, Bette Midler, Chuck Connors, Conan O’Brien, Sarah Duchess of York and countless others. Undoubtedly many of them have been teased as a “carrot top” and had to deny that they have a fiery temper.

Teasing is one thing, but now this: the chances of a redhead developing skin cancer are up to 100 times greater than the average person—even if they have avoided the sun. So concludes a study conducted last year by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine. The researchers found that the mutation responsible for red hair also promotes a significant cancer-causing pathway that can lead to melanoma.

According to study leader Dr. Wendi Wei of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: “Our findings provide a possible molecular mechanism as to why red-haired individuals harboring MC1R mutations are much more susceptible to UV-induced skin damage than individuals with darker skin, resulting in a 10 to 100-fold higher frequency of melanoma.”