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SUNLIGHT AND THE AETIOLOGY OF MALIGNANT MELANOMA: A SYNTHESIS
Author(s) -
Lee J. A. H.,
Merrill J. M.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1970.tb63213.x
Subject(s) - melanoma , incidence (geometry) , sunlight , residence , sun exposure , medicine , etiology , dermatology , equator , latitude , demography , pathology , geography , cancer research , geodesy , sociology , optics , physics , astronomy
The available data on age, sex, complexion, latitude of residence and personal exposure to sunlight as factors in the ætiology of melanoma have been collected. A “solar circulating factor” is proposed as the agent responsible for the high incidence of melanomas of unexposed sites in white people living near the Equator, and a scheme is suggested to account for the observed relationships, including the stability of the clinical picture and the prognosis of malignant melanoma, in countries of different incidence. The distribution of intraocular and conjunctival melanomas, as far as it is known, is compatible with this scheme.