On the surface, Parkinson’s disease — a neurodegenerative disorder — and melanoma — a type of skin cancer — do not appear to have much in common. However, for nearly 50 years, doctors have recognized that Parkinson’s disease patients are more likely to develop melanoma than the general population. Now, scientists report a molecular link between the two diseases in the form of protein aggregates known as amyloids.
The researchers will present their results today at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
“Several studies have shown that melanoma occurs two to six times more frequently in the Parkinson’s population than the healthy population,” says Dexter Dean, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), who is presenting the work at the meeting. “What’s more, the protein involved in Parkinson’s disease,…
