Scientists found that counting the number of moles on the body can help predict an individual's increased risk of developing skin cancer or melanoma. People with more than 11 moles on their right arm have been found to be at a higher-than-average risk, while those with more than 100 have five times the normal risk of developing skin cancer.

Melanoma is the type of cancer that develops from abnormal moles. According to Melanoma Institute Australia, more than 12,500 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed in Australia every year, and there could be one death every six hours from the disease.

The study's researchers from King's College London said that because moles are directly linked with melanoma, counting moles in the body could be greatly helpful to early diagnosis of patients. They believe that it could be a new method that would help doctors identify patients with increased risk of melanoma as well as establish if a person is prone to skin cancer.

For the study, the researchers analysed data from 3,000 female twins in the UK for eight years. The team collected information on the subjects’ skin type, freckles and moles on their bodies.

The process was repeated on around 400 men and women suffering from melanoma. The findings, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, revealed that the number of moles on the right arm of a person can be a good indicator of the total number of moles on the whole body.

Females with more than seven moles on the right arm were found to have about nine times the possibility of having more than 50 on their body, while people with more than 11 moles on their right arm could have more than 100 on their whole body. Those with a large number of moles in the body were found to have a higher risk of developing melanoma, the researchers said.

"The findings could have a significant impact for primary care, allowing GPs to more accurately estimate the total number of moles in a patient extremely quickly via an easily accessible body part," said lead author Simone Ribero from the department of twin research and genetic epidemiology at King's College London.

The number of moles on one arm "might ring alarm bells" for an individual to see their GP to check for possible abnormal moles that may lead to developing melanoma, according to study co-author Veronique Bataille, a consultant dermatologist.

However, “less than half of melanomas develop from existing moles,” said Dr Claire Knight, health information manager at Cancer Research UK. She pointed out that “it's important to know what's normal for your skin and to tell your doctor about any change in the size, shape, colour or feel of a mole or a normal patch of skin.”

Knight added that arms are not the only indicators of the risk for melanoma, as the disease can develop “anywhere on the body, and is most common on the trunk in men and the legs in women."

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