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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Jul 20.
Published in final edited form as: Exp Dermatol. 2014 Nov 18;24(3):171–174. doi: 10.1111/exd.12559

Figure 3. Summary of melanoma risk with melanin types and its potential link with neurodegenerative diseases.

Figure 3

Eumelanin strongly absorbs UV radiation and serves as an antioxidant, hence in dark skinned individuals the UV/ROS induced stress is well managed and melanomas are rare. In pheomelanin-predominant light skinned individuals, pheomelanin does not efficiently absorb UV radiation, and upon UV radiation pheomelanin becomes a pro-oxidant. Hence, with high UV doses the stress is difficult to manage and melanoma risk increases greatly in these individuals. A potential link of UV/ROS-induced amyloid toxicity is suggested by the shared risk of some individuals for cutaneous melanoma and Parkinson’s disease.