ABSTRACT
Cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) in the US is increasing in occurrence at a rate second only to lung cancer in women. By the year 2000 A.D., it is estimated that 1 in 100 Caucasians will develop CMM during their lifetime. There has been limited investigation of the etiologic role of environmental interaction with host factors in CMM, inclusive of the familial atypical multiple mole melanoma. The chapter provides skin samples from the family for fibroblast studies in J. E. Cleaver’s early investigations on DNA repair. The pioneering efforts of Cleaver, studying DNA repair defects induced by ultraviolet radiation stimulated interest in xeroderma pigmentosum (XDP) at the molecular level. XDP is an exceedingly rare, autosomal recessive, multisystem disorder. Albinism is a genetic spectrum of disease involving different aspects of the metabolism and distribution of melanin in the skin, hair, and eyes.
