Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Exogenous hormone use and cutaneous melanoma risk in women: The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition

Cervenka, Iris ; Isaksson, Karolin LU ; Butt, Salma LU and Kvaskoff, Marina (2020) In International Journal of Cancer 146(12). p.3267-3280
Abstract
Evidence suggests an influence of sex hormones on cutaneous melanoma risk, but epidemiologic findings are conflicting. We examined the associations between use of oral contraceptives (OCs) and menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and melanoma risk in women participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). EPIC is a prospective cohort study initiated in 1992 in 10 European countries. Information on exogenous hormone use at baseline was derived from country-specific self-administered questionnaires. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Over 1992–2015, 1,696 melanoma cases were identified among 334,483 women, whereof 770... (More)
Evidence suggests an influence of sex hormones on cutaneous melanoma risk, but epidemiologic findings are conflicting. We examined the associations between use of oral contraceptives (OCs) and menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and melanoma risk in women participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). EPIC is a prospective cohort study initiated in 1992 in 10 European countries. Information on exogenous hormone use at baseline was derived from country-specific self-administered questionnaires. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Over 1992–2015, 1,696 melanoma cases were identified among 334,483 women, whereof 770 cases among 134,758 postmenopausal women. There was a positive, borderline-significant association between OC use and melanoma risk (HR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.00–1.26), with no detected heterogeneity across countries (phomogeneity = 0.42). This risk increased linearly with duration of use (ptrend = 0.01). Among postmenopausal women, ever use of MHT was associated with a nonsignificant increase in melanoma risk overall (HR = 1.14, 95% CI = 0.97–1.43), which was heterogeneous across countries (phomogeneity = 0.05). Our findings do not support a strong and direct association between exogenous hormone use and melanoma risk. In order to better understand these relations, further research should be performed using prospectively collected data including detailed information on types of hormone, and on sun exposure, which may act as an important confounder or effect modifier on these relations. © 2019 UICC (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
author collaboration
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
cohort studies, cutaneous melanoma, epidemiology, hormonal treatments, menopausal hormone therapy, oral contraceptives
in
International Journal of Cancer
volume
146
issue
12
pages
14 pages
publisher
John Wiley & Sons Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85074492255
  • pmid:31506954
ISSN
0020-7136
DOI
10.1002/ijc.32674
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
dcfd448f-f82c-40be-aee2-8c890ba65a37
date added to LUP
2019-11-27 14:24:06
date last changed
2022-04-18 18:56:31
@article{dcfd448f-f82c-40be-aee2-8c890ba65a37,
  abstract     = {{Evidence suggests an influence of sex hormones on cutaneous melanoma risk, but epidemiologic findings are conflicting. We examined the associations between use of oral contraceptives (OCs) and menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) and melanoma risk in women participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). EPIC is a prospective cohort study initiated in 1992 in 10 European countries. Information on exogenous hormone use at baseline was derived from country-specific self-administered questionnaires. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Over 1992–2015, 1,696 melanoma cases were identified among 334,483 women, whereof 770 cases among 134,758 postmenopausal women. There was a positive, borderline-significant association between OC use and melanoma risk (HR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.00–1.26), with no detected heterogeneity across countries (phomogeneity = 0.42). This risk increased linearly with duration of use (ptrend = 0.01). Among postmenopausal women, ever use of MHT was associated with a nonsignificant increase in melanoma risk overall (HR = 1.14, 95% CI = 0.97–1.43), which was heterogeneous across countries (phomogeneity = 0.05). Our findings do not support a strong and direct association between exogenous hormone use and melanoma risk. In order to better understand these relations, further research should be performed using prospectively collected data including detailed information on types of hormone, and on sun exposure, which may act as an important confounder or effect modifier on these relations. © 2019 UICC}},
  author       = {{Cervenka, Iris and Isaksson, Karolin and Butt, Salma and Kvaskoff, Marina}},
  issn         = {{0020-7136}},
  keywords     = {{cohort studies; cutaneous melanoma; epidemiology; hormonal treatments; menopausal hormone therapy; oral contraceptives}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{06}},
  number       = {{12}},
  pages        = {{3267--3280}},
  publisher    = {{John Wiley & Sons Inc.}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Cancer}},
  title        = {{Exogenous hormone use and cutaneous melanoma risk in women: The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ijc.32674}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/ijc.32674}},
  volume       = {{146}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}