Environmental risk factors for relapse of melanoma.
OBJECTIVE
To identify lifestyle factors affecting risk of relapse.


METHODS
A comparison of 131 relapsed melanoma patients with 147 non-relapsers.


RESULTS
Relapsers were more likely to report financial hardship using a number of different measures including access to holidays and feeling financially insecure (odds ratio (OR) 5.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.5, 21.4)). Relapsers worked longer hours (mean 37h per week compared with 31, p=0.02). There was no reported difference in stress associated with recent life events. There was no effect of housing quality, employment factors or body mass index (BMI) on risk of relapse. There was a protective effect of antibiotics in the peri-operative period.


CONCLUSIONS
The study provides preliminary evidence for adverse effects of chronic financial hardship, but not recent stressful events on cancer relapse. As these data were collected in a retrospective case-control study subject to recall bias, the data must now be explored in a prospective study.
Beswick
Samantha
S
Section of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine, Cancer Research UK Clinical Centre at Leeds, St James's University Hospital, Leeds, United Kingdom.
Affleck
Paul
P
Elliott
Faye
F
Gerry
Edwina
E
Boon
Andy
A
Bale
Linda
L
Nolan
Clarissa
C
Barrett
Jennifer H
JH
Bertram
Chandra
C
Marsden
Jerry
J
Bishop
D Timothy
DT
Newton-Bishop
Julia A
JA
D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016019:Survival Analysis