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The measurement of constitutive and facultative skin pigmentation and estimation of sun exposure in caucasians with basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous malignant melanoma
Author(s) -
Lock-Andersen,
Drzewiecki,
Wulf
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2133.1998.02456.x
Subject(s) - buttocks , basal cell carcinoma , medicine , forehead , melanoma , sun exposure , dermatology , basal cell , case control study , basal (medicine) , surgery , pathology , cancer research , insulin
In two identical and simultaneously performed case–control studies of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) with age‐matched, sex‐matched and residence‐matched controls, skin pigmentation was measured objectively by skin reflectance spectroscopy in 145 BCC patients and 174 matched controls and in 168 CMM patients and 176 matched controls. Measurements were performed at the forehead, the upper chest, the upper back, the lateral and medial aspects of the upper arm, and the buttocks. Self‐estimation of sun exposure in childhood, in youth and in adulthood was performed by all subjects. There were no statistically significant differences in constitutive skin pigmentation at the buttocks between BCC patients and controls ( P = 0.96) or between CMM patients and controls ( P = 0.13). Facultative skin pigmentation in ultraviolet‐exposed sites was not significantly different between BCC patients and controls except that women patients had higher pigmentation at the lateral side of the upper arm. For CMM, men patients had higher pigmentation at the lateral side of the upper arm. Self‐estimations of sun exposure did not show differences between patients and controls but indicated high exposure levels in childhood and youth and in adult leisure time. Sun exposure estimated by increase in facultative pigmentation above the constitutive level (the Sun Exposure Index) was not significantly different between BCC patients and controls, whereas CMM men patients had higher estimates for the lateral side of the upper arm, the chest and the back.