The link between occupation and cutaneous melanoma

Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is a type of skin cancer. The occurrence of CM in the Nordic countries has increased during the last 60 years. Studies of large populations can help us to understand how the proportion of people with a disease varies over time. However, few studies have examined the risk of CM in people of different occupations in this way. Our aim was to perform such a study in a large Nordic population. Our data were obtained from the Nordic Occupational Cancer Study – ‘NOCCA’. NOCCA links census data with data from cancer registries for Nordic residents aged 30–64 years in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The data we used covered 45 years of records, from 1961 to 2005. The occupations of the individuals were recorded and grouped into 53 categories, and classed as either indoor, outdoor or mixed (indoor and outdoor) work. The occupations were also sorted by social class. The average of all persons was used for comparison. In total, 83,898 new cases of CM were identified. In all countries combined, men doing outdoor work had a lower than expected risk of CM (21% lower), and men doing indoor work had a higher than expected risk (9% higher). Differences in women pointed in the same direction. Higher social class was associated with a greater than expected risk, by 34% in men and by 31% in women. Technical, transport, military and public safety workers with potential skin exposure to causes of cancer had a risk of CM that was greater than expected. Variation in the risk of CM across people of different occupations may be partly explained by factors linked to personal differences, social class and skin exposure. The risk of getting CM reduced slightly over time. Linked Article :  Alfonso et al . Br J Dermatol 2021; 184 :672–680.