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Racial differences in mole proneness

F H Rampen1, P E de Wit

  • 1Department of Dermatology, Sint Anna Hospital, Oss, The Netherlands.

Acta Dermato-Venereologica
|January 1, 1989
PubMed

Mole counts were studied in relation to skin complexion in various racial groups. White children had a median total number of naevocytic naevi of 17.0, versus 2.5 in non-white children (p less than 0.001). Young white adults showed a similar mole proneness to that of coloured subjects (61.0 versus 16.0; p less than 0.001). With regard to moles greater than 2 mm diameter in the young-adult group, white subjects again exhibited a higher median count than non-white subjects (5.5 versus 1.0; p less than 0.001). There was an inverse gradient of mole counts in young adults from subjects of white complexion through those of mixed ancestry, Oriental ancestry, to those of Negroid descent. This study indicates that there is a strong racial background predisposing to the development of naevocytic naevi.

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