The number of moles on your right arm tied to cancer risk

Skin checks are a common way to detect if you’re at risk of skin cancer but new research says doctors may not have to look at the entire body.

Researchers from Kings College in London have discovered that you may just need to look at your right arm: having 11 or more moles on your right arm indicated an increased risk of developing skin cancer.

During the study researchers examined data from nearly 3600 twins that was collected between January 1995 and December 2003. The twins had an exam that recorded skin type, hair and eye colour, freckles, and mole counts in 17 different areas of the body.

They found that the right arm was the best way to predict how many moles people would have all over their body. Women with more than seven moles on their right arm were more likely to have over 50 moles on their whole body. People with over 11 moles on their right arm were more likely to have over 100 moles on their whole body.

Why the right arm? One hypothesis is that in the UK where the study was conducted drivers drive on the right hand side of the road, and therefore exposed to more sun damage.

While there’s still more research to be done, experts believe it could help GPs and health professionals detect those at high risk.

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“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. This would mean that more patients at risk of melanoma can be identified and monitored,” lead study author Simone Ribero said in a statement.

Currently, melanoma is the third most common cancer in Australian men and women and it accounts for 80 per cent of all new diagnosed cancers.

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Protect yourself by practising wearing broad spectrum 50+ sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses and sun-protective clothing, and avoid the sun at high UV times. (You can check the UV index here.

Regularly check your skin for new spots and changes to existing freckles or moles, and if you see anything unusual, head straight to your doctor.

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