Common Causes And Risk Factors For Subungual Melanoma

Age

Individuals of advanced ages are at a higher risk of developing subungual melanoma than younger individuals. This risk factor is common among hundreds of cancer types, making the median age of all cancer diagnoses around sixty-six years old. Advanced age contributes to the development process of subungual melanoma in several ways. An older individual has had a more significant amount of accumulated and compounded skin damage from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun, which is known to cause the development of malignancy. Individuals of an older age are more likely to have experienced injury and or trauma to the fingernail and or toenail areas than younger individuals, which also increases the risk of subungual melanoma. Older individuals have an overall less efficient immune system, and their body has a greater tendency to make repairs to cells with DNA damage rather than destroying and replacing them the way a younger individual's body would. Cellular damage mediated by repair is more likely to experience mishaps that result in mutations in the cellular DNA. This variability with age occurs because a less effective ability to produce new cells in the body is a part of the natural aging process. An individual's older age, in combination with other risk factors for subungual melanoma, is what makes them more likely to develop it.

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