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Sunscreens and cutaneous malignant melanoma: An Italian case‐control study
Author(s) -
Naldi Luigi,
Gallus Silvano,
Imberti G. Lorenzo,
Cainelli Tullio,
Negri Eva,
La Vecchia Carlo
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(20000615)86:6<879::aid-ijc19>3.0.co;2-n
Subject(s) - sunburn , medicine , confidence interval , odds ratio , dermatology , multivariate analysis , risk factor , melanoma , melanocytic nevus , nevus , cancer research
The possible relation between use of sunscreens and the risk of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) was investigated in a case‐control study conducted in 27 Italian centres on 542 incident, histologically confirmed cases and 538 controls admitted for acute, other than neoplastic or dermatologic conditions. Compared with subjects reporting never sunscreen use, the multivariate odds ratios (OR), after allowance for age, sex, geographic area, education, skin, eye and hair colour, freckles, number of naevi, history of sunburns, tanning pattern and duration of sunny vacations, were 0.97 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.69 to 1.35) for those reporting “sometimes” and 0.80 (95% CI 0.54 to 1.17) for those reporting “often ” sunscreen use. With reference to type of product most frequently used, the ORs were 0.96 (95% CI 0.52 to 1.77) for minimal, 0.90 (95% CI 0.63 to 1.28) for moderate and 1.41 (95% CI 0.85 to 2.35) for high sunburn protection factor. With reference to duration of use, the OR was 0.86 (95% CI 0.58 to 1.29) for use started since ≥20 years. None of the corresponding trends in risks were significant. The ORs for sunscreen use were similar across strata of major identified covariates and, if anything, tended to decline after multivariate analysis. The present findings confirm that sunscreen use, as currently adopted in Italy, is not appreciably related to subsequent CMM risk. Int. J. Cancer 86:879–882, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.