Abstract
Intermittent sun exposure is the major environmental risk factor for cutaneous melanoma (CM). Cumulative sun exposure and other environmental agents, such as environmental arsenic exposure, have not shown consistent associations. Ambient ultraviolet radiation (UVR) was used to measure individual total sun exposure as this is thought to be less prone to misclassification and recall bias. Data were analyzed from 1096 CM cases and 1033 controls in the Iowa Study of Skin Cancer and Its Causes, a population-based, case-control study. Self-reported residential histories were linked to satellite-derived ambient UVR, spatially derived environmental soil arsenic concentration, and drinking water arsenic concentrations. In men and women, ambient UVR during childhood and adolescence was not associated with CM but was positively associated during adulthood. Lifetime ambient UVR was positively associated with CM in men (OR for highest vs. lowest quartile: 6.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.21–16.8), but this association was not as strong among women (OR for highest vs. lowest quartile: 2.15, 95% CI 0.84–5.54). No association was detected for environmental soil or drinking water arsenic concentrations and CM. Our findings suggest that lifetime and adulthood sun exposures may be important risk factors for CM.
Highlights
The incidence of cutaneous melanoma (CM) rates in the US have increased from9.75 per 100,000 in 1975 to 32.6 per 100,000 in 2017 among whites [1]
Study participants were relatively stable with 87%, 74%, and 64% living in the current residential location for at least 5 years, 10 years, and 15 years, respectively
Marital status was not associated with CM
Summary
The incidence of cutaneous melanoma (CM) rates in the US have increased from. 9.75 per 100,000 in 1975 to 32.6 per 100,000 in 2017 among whites [1]. Intermittent sun exposure and sun sensitivity factors are the most important and well-described risk factors for CM [2–4]. CM risk, as with most cancers, increases with age, and incidence is higher among women than men before age 50. After age 50, incidence is higher in men [1]. Sex may represent differing patterns of exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) [5,6] since melanomas appear most often on the head and neck or trunk of men and on the legs of women [7–10]. Melanomas on other regions, such as mucosal surfaces, are quite rare [11]
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