[Ultraviolet exposure in childhood and in adulthood: which life period modifies the risk of melanoma more substantially?].
The paper is devoted to the analysis of the relationship between the frequency of sunburns in childhood and adulthood, respectively, and the occurrence of malignant melanoma of the skin. The analysis is based on case-control data of 603 melanoma cases and 627 population controls from 11 participating centers in seven European countries. The results confirm the increase in melanoma risk for an increasing number of sunburns during childhood and adulthood in the same magnitude of risk elevation. The maximum OR for the highest exposure category of more than five sunburns was during the childhood 2.0 (95%-CI: 1.2-3.5) and during the adulthood 2.1 (95%-CI: 1.4-3.3), respectively. The analysis of the joint effects of sunburns during child- and adulthood on melanoma development corroborated these findings. In this joint analysis an OR of 2.1 (95%-CI: 1.3-3.5) quantifies the melanoma risk of those with three or more sunburns during child- and adulthood, respectively, compared to those without any sunburns during these periods. The study does therefore provide no supporting evidence for the presence of "critical period" during childhood in which a higher melanoma risk due to sunburns has been suggested by other studies.
Institut für Medizininformatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg. Annette.Pfahlberg@rzmail.uni-erlangen.de
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Pfahlberg
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Schneider
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Kölmel
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Gefeller
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000209:etiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D009381:Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D013471:Sunburn / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays / Q000009:adverse effects*