title: Teenage acne and cancer risk in US women: A prospective cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acne reflects hormone imbalance and is a key component of several systemic diseases. We hypothesized that diagnosis of acne as a teenager might predict subsequent risk of hormone-related cancers.
  
  
  METHODS
  We followed 99,128 female nurses in the Nurses' Health Study II cohort for 20 years (1989-2009) and used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) of 8 specific cancers (breast, thyroid, colorectal, ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancers, melanoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma) for women with a history of severe teenage acne.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After thoroughly adjusting for the previously known risk factors for each cancer, we found that among women with a history of severe teenage acne, the relative risk increased, with a multivariable-adjusted HR of 1.44 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-2.01) for melanoma. We replicated this association in an independent melanoma case-control study of 930 cases and 1026 controls (multivariable-adjusted odds ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.03-1.56). We also found that in both studies the individuals with teenage acne were more likely to have moles (52.7% vs 50.1%, P < .001 in the cohort study; and 55.2% vs 45.1%, P = .004 in the case-control study).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that a history of teenage acne might be a novel risk factor for melanoma independent from the known factors, which supports a need for continued investigation of these relationships.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Mingfeng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Abrar A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Qureshi
authors.forename: Renée T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Fortner
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hankinson
authors.forename: Qingyi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Li-E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: A Heather
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Eliassen
authors.forename: Walter C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Jiali
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
mesh_terms: D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin; D008545:Melanoma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009376:Neoplasms, Hormone-Dependent / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D013739:Testosterone
keywords: acne, cancer, melanoma, mole, telomere length; androgen