Cutaneous melanin density of Caucasians measured by spectrophotometry and risk of malignant melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.

Recent advances have enabled quite accurate estimation by spectrophotometry of the density of cutaneous melanin. The relation between skin cancers and this objective measure of skin phenotype is examined here. For this purpose, a population-based case-control study of subjects aged 20-59 years of northern European ancestry was conducted in Tasmania, Australia.