Scientists uncover surprising secrets about the rare skin cancer that killed Bob Marley

Music-lovers across the world mourned when Bob Marley died in 1981 aged just 36. Now – 33 years later – scientists have unlocked some of the secrets to the rare form of skin cancer that killed him.

And unlike most forms of skin cancer, it has nothing to do with sunlight.

The type of cancer that killed Marley is known as acral melanoma. It most often affects the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, nail beds and other hairless areas of the skin. Unusually for skin cancer, it is not caused by the damaging effect of ultraviolet rays.