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Soo Park, MD
Soo Park, MD
Posted: Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Exposure to ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation may increase melanoma risk more significantly than ultraviolet B (UVB) exposure, according to study results published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Elizabeth K. Cahoon, PhD, of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues found in their large prospective study of indoor workers that melanoma risk was elevated among participants living in locations with high annual childhood and lifetime UVA exposure after controlling for UVB exposure. The overall pattern of incidence rate ratios (IRRs) suggests no increased risk of melanoma associated with childhood UVB exposure after adjustment for UVA exposure.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate UVA and UVB in relation to risk of melanoma in a large nationwide U.S. cohort with information on lifetime ambient exposures on the basis of residential history geocoded and linked with NASA satellite data at different ages,” the investigators stated. “With confirmation in other study populations, these findings support increased and effective protection from solar UVA for melanoma prevention.”
A total of 62,785 non-Hispanic White participants were included in the study, drawn from the nationwide U.S. Radiologic Technologists cohort. Observing 837 incident melanoma cases among the participants, the researchers found a statistically significant increase in incidence of melanoma for the highest quartile of childhood UVA exposure after adjustment for UVB exposure (IRR = 2.82; 95% confidence interval = 1.46–5.44)—but not for higher childhood UVB exposure after adjustment for UVA exposure. They also reported that childhood UVA exposure was associated with increased melanoma risk within strata of UVB exposure. Finally, childhood exposure to UVB did not appear to be associated with melanoma after adjustment for exposure to UVA, but there was some evidence of lower risk with increased lifetime ambient UVB exposure after adjustment for UVA exposure.
Disclosure: The study authors reported no conflicts of interest.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute
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