How fingernails might help doctors detect cancer risk [Video]

Fingernail abnormalities might help detect a condition linked with various cancers, including uveal and cutaneous melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, mesothelioma and renal cell carcinoma, according to a study published Friday in the JAMA Dermatology journal.

Researchers found that BAP1 tumor predisposition syndrome – a condition associated with the BRCA1 gene – was also associated with a “high rate of nail abnormalities consistent with,” onychopapilloma. Those are rare benign tumors of the nail matrix and bed.

Public awareness of BRCA1 – a gene linked to breast and ovarian cancer – increased following actress Angelina Jolie’s announcement that she carried the gene and had preventative bilateral mastectomies to decrease her risk of developing breast cancer in 2013. Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died of breast cancer. According to Beth Israel Lahey Health, the “Angelina Jolie Effect” resulted in an increased number of women seeking genetic testing for the gene.

BAP1 tumor predisposition syndrome is also an inherited …