Abstract 3289: Cutaneous melanocytic nevi and risk of melanoma deaths in women and men: a prospective study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Increased number of common acquired melanocytic nevi (moles) has been associated with an increased risk of melanoma. It is unclear whether melanocytic nevi may predict melanoma deaths. We prospectively examined the association between number of melanocytic nevi and risk of melanoma deaths based on 77316 women from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and 32454 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS). Methods: In both cohorts, diagnosis of melanoma was reported biennially and pathologically confirmed. Deaths were confirmed by next of kin or the National Death Index. Information on the number of moles with ≥3 mm diameter on the upper extremity was collected in 1986. We used Cox regression models to evaluate the associations between number of melanocytic nevi and risk of melanoma deaths in the overall cohorts as well as only among melanoma cases. Results: A total of 2450 cases of melanoma were documented (1545 in NHS and 905 in HPFS), out of which we identified 192 incident deaths due to melanoma (87 in NHS and 105 in HPFS) during the follow-up (1986-2012). Increased number of melanocytic nevi was associated with melanoma deaths; the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for 3 or more melanocytic nevi compared with no nevi on the upper extremity was 2.55 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.52-4.28) for women and 3.97 (95% CI: 2.54-6.22) for men. A secondary analysis further found that increased number of melanocytic nevi was associated with both lethal melanoma (melanoma cases that died of melanoma) and non-lethal melanoma. Among melanoma cases, increased number of melanocytic nevi was independently associated with risk of melanoma deaths in men, with a HR of 1.89 (95% CI: 1.17-3.05) for 3 or more melanocytic nevi. The association persisted even after adjusting for Breslow thickness of melanoma and appeared particularly stronger among those with lower Breslow thickness (P for interaction=0.03). However, number of melanocytic nevi was not significantly associated with risk of melanoma deaths among melanoma cases in women (HR=1.03, 95% CI: 0.61-1.76 for 3 or more nevi). Conclusion: Increased number of melanocytic nevi was significantly associated with risk of melanoma deaths in our cohorts of women and men. A high number of melanocytic nevi may independently predict the risk of melanoma deaths among men with melanoma. Citation Format: Wen-Qing Li, Hao Geng, Eunyoung Cho, Abrar Qureshi. Cutaneous melanocytic nevi and risk of melanoma deaths in women and men: a prospective study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 3289. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-3289