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Cited by 43Cutaneous Melanoma Detection and ManagementSkin Protection and Agingmelanin and skin pigmentation

Sun exposure and malignant melanoma among susceptible individuals

Open access
Dubin, N, Moseson, M, Pasternack, B S·1989·Environmental Health Perspectives
DOI 10.1289/ehp.8981139PMC PMC1567515
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Abstract

The purpose of this case-control study was to identify susceptible subgroups, primarily based on pigmentary characteristics, at higher risk of developing melanoma when exposed to the sun. The study group, which was interviewed from 1979 to 1982, consisted of 289 consecutive patients with melanoma and 527 randomly selected controls without cancer. In general, the risk of melanoma associated with sun exposure was greater for individuals expected to be susceptible on the basis of poor ability to tan, but not other pigmentary traits. There were, in addition, some noteworthy interactions between age and sun exposure. Among subjects with poor tanning ability, the risk of melanoma associated with outdoor occupation was more than 3-fold [odds ratio (OR) = 3.3] compared to indoor occupation. In contrast, the analogous OR was much less elevated among subjects with a good ability to tan (OR = 1.5). Mixed indoor and outdoor job exposure was protective among good tanners (OR = 0.80), but not among poor tanners (OR = 1.5). A similar pattern was seen for recreational sun exposure and, when applying multiple logistic regression, for the patient's overall subjective assessment of his lifetime sun exposure. However, quantitative assessment of average hours of sun exposure did not prove to be a good indicator of melanoma risk, even among susceptible individuals. A history of severe sunburn with blistering was associated with nearly 3-fold risk among poor tanners (OR = 2.9) but was protective among good tanners (OR = 0.79). A history of nonmelanoma skin cancer or solar keratosis was a very strong risk factor (OR = 7.3), which, however, did not significantly differ in magnitude among susceptibility subgroups.

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  • The incidence of cutaneous melanoma is much higher in individuals with a light complexion who burn rather than tan upon sun exposure than in individuals with a dark skin color who tan readily.

    “It is well–known that the incidence of cutaneous melanoma is much higher in individuals with a light complexion, who burn rather than tan upon sun exposure, than in individuals with a dark skin color, who tan readily [ 2 , 3 ].”

    From Differential Induction of Reactive Oxygen Species and Expression of Antioxidant Enzymes in Human Melanocytes Correlate with Melanin Content: Implications on the Response to Solar UV and Melanoma Susceptibility (2022) · cites this paper as [2]

    The Results (Consideration of Potential Confounding Variables) report higher melanoma odds among people with little or no ability to tan than among those with average or greater tanning ability (OR = 2.2). This supports the tanning-ability comparison, but the paper does not establish the stated comparison of melanoma incidence between light- and dark-skinned individuals. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Authors
Dubin, N., Moseson, M., & Pasternack, B. S.
Affiliations
NYU Langone Health (US)
Venue
Environmental Health Perspectives
Publisher
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Published
1989-05
Volume
81
Pages
139-151
ISSN
  • 0091-6765 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-9924
DOI
10.1289/ehp.8981139
PMC
PMC1567515
OpenAlex
W2050054134
Cited by
43
References
25
Citations by year
2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 3
FWCI
0.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
public-domain
Locations
  • Environmental Health Perspectives (publishedVersion, public-domain)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Cancer Institute (CA 13343, CA16087)
  • National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (OH-00915)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cutaneous Melanoma Detection and Management
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Dermatology › Skin Protection and Aging
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › melanin and skin pigmentation
Keywords
melanoma, sun exposure, tanning ability, skin pigmentation, outdoor work, recreational sun exposure, non-melanoma skin cancer, actinic keratosis
MeSH terms
Adult, Disease Susceptibility, Epidemiologic Methods, Eye Color, Female, Hair Color, Humans, Male, Melanoma, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Skin Neoplasms, Skin Pigmentation, Sunlight

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