Narrator: This is Science Today. Melanomas are the deadliest form of skin cancer. Now, researchers at the University of California , San Francisco have discovered that you may be vulnerable to different types of melanoma, depending on your skin color. Dr. Boris Bastian, who led the study, explains.

Bastian: It's clear that light-skinned individuals 801 are particularly prone to develop melanomas on the sun-exposed skin. This isn't true for people from African descent, Asian decent. They tend not to get these UV related melanomas.

Narrator: Skin color also plays a large part in determining where a melanoma will appear. The study found that certain types of melanoma can develop on areas not exposed to the sun.

Bastian: That already implies that there are some differences in these melanomas that develop in the sun-protected sites and those that develop in sun-exposed sites. And that is something that we confirmed with our molecular studies.

Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.