title: Occupational exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and risk of cutaneous melanoma: a meta-analysis.
abstract: The aim of this study was to carry out a meta-analysis of studies on exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the risk of malignant melanoma (MM). We searched Scopus, PubMed, and reference lists; among 807 potentially relevant articles, we selected those based on 12 populations. Data were extracted according to a standardized form; the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess study quality. Meta-analyses were carried out according to fixed-effect and random-effects models. The fixed-effect summary relative risk (RR) for MM was 0.91 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82-1.00]; the random-effects summary RR was 1.05 (95% CI: 0.78-1.32). The random-effects summary RR from eight occupational cohorts was 1.13 (95% CI: 0.91-1.35) and that from four community-based studies was 0.84 (95% CI: 0.36-1.31). The quality of the studies and the methods for PCB exposure assessment did not influence the RR. These results do not support the hypothesis of an association between PCB exposure and the risk of MM.
authors.affiliation: Tisch Cancer Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Boffetta
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery Specialties, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Catalani
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery Specialties, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia.
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tomasi
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Pediatric Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pira
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Surgery Specialties, Radiological Sciences and Public Health, University of Brescia, Brescia.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Apostoli
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008545:Melanoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000633:toxicity*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls