Age plays role in interaction between sex, UV index in melanoma risk

Researchers from the Department of Epidemiology at University of California, Irvine, found that age is a factor in the interaction between sex and ultraviolet index in melanoma.

A study explored how women younger than age 45 years account for more cases of melanoma than men with a reversal of that trend as women age. While most studies attribute this to tanning beds and the lifestyle of younger women, “it was reported in a meta-analysis that in Europe tanning bed use accounted for only 5.4% of all melanoma cases,” according to the study.

The researchers analyzed the most recent 10-year period of available data from registries in the United States, Australia and northern Europe. Registries were selected to create ethnic homogeneity among the analyzed data.

The analysis revealed that for younger women, sex was an independent risk factor for melanoma not affected by ambient UV exposure; in older women, sex did interact with UV exposure but as a protective effect. Thus, the interaction between sex and UV index becomes increasingly important with age.

“The 15 to 19 and 45 to 49 age groups are ... the exact ages when sex hormones exhibit the most dramatic changes in the human life span. In particular, both estrogen and testosterone levels dramatically increase during the ages of 15 to 19 and they both dramatically decrease in the 45 to 49 year age group,” the study authors wrote. “This coincidence may suggest a link of these hormonal changes with melanoma risk, and these changes interact with geographic [UV index] to affect melanoma development.”

They suggested more research is needed to explore these observations and to develop melanoma preventive measures based on sex and age factors. – by Kalie VanDewater

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.