Sunburns and Risk of Cutaneous Melanoma: Does Age Matter? A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis

Purpose Sunburns are an important risk factor for melanoma and those occurring in childhood are often cited as posing the greatest risk. We conducted a meta-analysis to quantify the magnitude of association for melanoma and sunburns during childhood, adolescence, adulthood and over a lifetime. Metho...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of epidemiology 2008-08, Vol.18 (8), p.614-627
Main Authors: Dennis, Leslie K., MS, PhD, Vanbeek, Marta J., MD, MPH, Beane Freeman, Laura E., PhD, Smith, Brian J., PhD, Dawson, Deborah V., PhD, Coughlin, Julie A., MPH
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Child
Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation
Environmental Exposure - adverse effects
Humans
Intermittent Sun Exposure
Internal Medicine
Melanoma
Melanoma - epidemiology
Meta-Analysis
Neoplasms, Radiation-Induced - epidemiology
Odds Ratio
Risk Factors
Skin Neoplasms - epidemiology
Sun Sensitivity
Sunburn
Sunburn - epidemiology
Ultraviolet Rays - adverse effects
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Summary:Purpose Sunburns are an important risk factor for melanoma and those occurring in childhood are often cited as posing the greatest risk. We conducted a meta-analysis to quantify the magnitude of association for melanoma and sunburns during childhood, adolescence, adulthood and over a lifetime. Methods After reviewing over 1300 article titles and evaluating 270 articles in detail, we pooled odds ratios from 51 independent study populations for “ever” sunburned and risk of cutaneous melanoma. Among these, 26 studies reported results from dose-response analyses. Dose-response analyses were examined using both fixed-effects models and Bayesian random-effects models. Results An increased risk of melanoma was seen with increasing number of sunburns for all time-periods (childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and lifetime). In an attempt to understand how risk between life-periods compares, we also report these same linear models on a scale of five sunburns per decade for each life-period. The magnitude of risk for five sunburns per decade is highest for adult and lifetime sunburns. Conclusions Overall, these results show an increased risk of melanoma with increasing number of sunburns during all life-periods, not just childhood. Prevention efforts should focus on reducing sunburns during all life-periods.
ISSN:1047-2797
1873-2585
DOI:10.1016/j.annepidem.2008.04.006