Several MC1R variants are associated with increased risk of malignant melanoma 
(MM) in a variety of populations. We aim to examine the influence of the MC1R 
variants (RHC: D84E, R151C, R160W; NRHC: V60L, R163Q and the synonymous 
polymorphism T314T) on the MM risk in a population from the Canary Islands. 
Overall, 1,046 Caucasian individuals were included in the study. A thousand of 
them were genotyped for MC1R variants: 509 were sporadic MM patients and 491 
were healthy control subjects from general population. The analysis was adjusted 
for age, sex, hair colour, eye colour, skin phototype and ancestry. We found 
that carriers of the R151C and R163Q variants were at an increased risk for 
melanoma OR 2.76 (1.59-4.78) and OR 5.62 (2.54-12.42), respectively. The risk of 
carrying RHC variants was 3.04 (1.90-4.86). Current study confirms the increased 
MM risk for R151C carriers. It also supports the association between R163Q 
variant and MM risk in the population on the Canary Islands, as opposed to 
reported on northern populations. These results highlight the importance of the 
sample population selection in this kind of studies.