CANCER RESEARCH questions and answers

Q. Can hair follicles kill you?

A. Possibly! Recent research has shown that the growth dynamics of hair follicles can be hijacked by skin cancers including melanomas. The tumors can encourage hair follicles adjacent to them to grow blood vessels into the tumors and support their growth. It is also theoretically possible that the growth promoting factors that hair follicles produce for their own growth maintenance could also encourage metastasis and spreading of skin cancer.

Q. Do you research anything other than hair follicles?

A. Yes. The laboratory also works on basal cell carcinomas (BCCs). BCC is the most common form of malignant disease throughout the world and constitutes 75% of all incidences of non-melanoma skin cancer. The annual incidence of BCC has been estimated to be 900,000 (550,000 male, 350,000 female) in the USA alone. Details on BCC frequency in Canada are limited, but one study suggests the annual incidence of BCC cases is approximately 70,000. The estimated lifetime risk of BCC in the North American Caucasian population is 33-39% in men and 23-28% in women. BCC frequency is increasing at a rate of 2-19% per year, depending on geographic location. Though not generally regarded as a “sunspot”, the Canadian incidence of BCC is also increasing at an annual rate of almost 4%. The rising rate of BCC incidence is likely due to a combination of improved diagnosis and reporting, increased sun exposure due to increased outdoor activity, changes in clothing style, increased longevity, and increased ultraviolet radiation intensity due to ozone depletion.

Hair research scientists are interested in BCCs as it seems that around one third of all BCCs are derived from mutated hair follicle stem cells. BCCs show many hair follicle characteristics. In a sense, hair follicles can be described as a regulated skin growth while BCCs can be described as a dysregulated skin growth. Genetic mutations in the genes patched and smoothened, which are also fundamental to hair follicle development and growth, have been implicated in BCC development. However, downstream and ancillary growth factor effects essential in the understanding of tumor initiation, progression and phenotype have not been defined. Part of the laboratory’s research involves the study of BCC growth mechanisms and their relationship to hair follicles.