1. ¹INSERM U716, Paris, France
2. ²Laboratoire de Biochimie Hormonale et Génétique, Hôpital Bichat-Claude Bernard, Paris, France
3. ³Service de Dermatologie, Hôpital Saint-Louis, Paris, France
4. ⁴Service de Dermatologie, Hôpital Tarnier, Paris, France
5. ⁵Service de Dermatologie, Hôpital Ambroise Paré, Boulogne, France

Correspondence: Professor Nicole Basset-Seguin, Policlinique de Dermatologie (Professor Dubertret), Hôpital Saint-Louis, 1 avenue C Vellefaux, Paris 75010, France. E-mail: nicole.basset-seguin@sls.aphp.fr

⁶These authors contributed equally to this work.

Received 7 September 2005; Revised 27 January 2006; Accepted 4 February 2006; Published online 27 April 2006.

Abstract

In this study, we assessed the role of melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) variants and of two patched (PTCH) polymorphisms (c.3944C>T (P1315L), insertion 18 bp IVS1-83) as risk factors for basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in the French population. The population investigated comprised 126 BCC patients who were enrolled on the basis of specific criteria (multiple and/or familial BCC and/or onset before the age of 40 years and/or association with another tumor) – and 151 controls matched for ethnicity, age, and sex. MC1R variants appeared as a moderate risk factor for BCC (odds ratio (OR) for one and two variants, 2.17 [1.28–3.68] and 7.72 [3.42–17.38], respectively), independently of pigmentation characteristics (OR=2.53 [1.34–4.8]). Interestingly, in addition to the predictable red hair color (RHC) alleles, two non-RHC alleles (V60L and V92M) were also closely associated with BCC risk (OR 3.21 [1.91–5.38] and 2.87 [1.5–5.48], respectively), which differs from the situation in the Celtic population. In addition, the PTCH c.3944C/C genotype was also associated with BCC risk (OR 1.94 [1.2–3.1]), especially in the subgroup of patients with multiple tumors (OR 2.16 [1.3–3.6]). Thus, our data show that MC1R and PTCH variants are associated with BCC risk in the French population. We further suggest that assessing MC1R and PTCH status could be useful, combined with the assessment of clinical risk factors, in identifying high-risk patients to be targeted for prevention or more rigorous surveillance.