news
Eye on cancer
Freckles and moles on the
iris could predict melanoma,
researchers say.
W
hen it comes to indicating
melanoma risk, the eyes have it.
University of Queensland
researchers have found that freckles
and moles appearing on the iris were an
effective predictor of the risk of melanoma
and complemented traditional factors.
The Dermatology Research Centre’s
Associate Professor Rick Sturm said the
presence of three or more iris pigmented
lesions was associated with a 45 per cent
increased risk of melanoma.
The association was particularly strong in
people under 40, Sturm said.
“The presence of iris freckling and naevi
[moles], provides additional information
about an individual’s melanoma risk over
and above factors like blue eyes, red hair,
Bladder leakage in teens
Go Against The Flow campaign material. Photo: VCRC
Many young girls deal with
the problem alone, feeling
stressed and ashamed.
U
rinary incontinence is not
something teen girls talk about
because no one really tells them it’s
something they should be thinking about.”
Because of this silence, Swinburne
University of Technology associate
professor Nicole Wragg says, many young
girls are likely to deal with the problem
alone, feeling embarrassed, stressed
and ashamed.
Wragg, who is also executive officer of
the Victorian Continence Resource Centre
(VCRC), and fellow VCRC researchers
conducted a literature review that confirmed
the lack of age-appropriate and engaging
material available to raise awareness of
fair skin and the number of moles on
the skin.”
The study involved 1117 participants of
European background living in south-east
Queensland.
Study co-author Dr Antonia Laino said
the results showed that participants with
pigmented lesions were 1.45 times more
likely to develop melanoma.
She also said the fact that younger
patients are 1.8 times more at risk
suggested a genetic susceptibility.
Laino added that these lesions should
be used as markers for melanoma risk in
younger patients.
“Melanoma is the most common cancer
in Australians aged 15–39. Despite many
new advances in treatments, long-term
prognosis remains poor, therefore early
detection is still key in reducing the burden
of the disease.
“It’s very easy to look for iris pigmented
lesions, and we hope that these findings
will help doctors identify those people who
may be at increased risk of melanoma and
need a skin check,” she said. ■
bladder leakage in teenage girls. This is at
odds with prevalence in the cohort, with
one in eight teenage girls experiencing
bladder leakage.
Wragg said the revelation was the
catalyst behind the Go Against The Flow
campaign, which aims to spread awareness
about bladder leakage in girls aged 15–19.
“It is imperative to reach this audience
before the health issue arises,” Wragg said.
Over the course of several years, a
collaborative team comprising VCRC and
Swinburne staff, led by chief investigator
Associate Professor Carolyn Barnes, held
a series of co-design workshops with
teen girls to find the best ways to connect
with them.
“The girls gave us critical feedback
about what mattered to them,” Barnes
said. “The workshop findings were then
translated into design concepts by an all-
female team of Swinburne communication
design students.”
The team landed on a website that
features blogs, information and a forum.
The team hoped it would help make
teenage girls who may be experiencing
bladder leakage feel supported, informed
and respected.
The project was funded by the Victorian
Department of Health and Human
Services, Swinburne and VCRC. ■
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