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Nonmelanoma skin cancer history linked to higher risk for subsequent malignancies
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Patients with a history of nonmelanoma skin cancer may be at an increased risk for subsequent cancers.
Researchers from the National Cancer Institute, the Johns Hopkins University and other sites in the United States, conducted a 16-year follow-up of a prospective cohort study to determine the relationship between nonmelanoma skin cancer and the risk for subsequent noncutaneous malignancies.
The study included 19,174 patients from the CLUE (Give Us a Clue to Cancer and Heart Disease) II cohort with a history of nonmelanoma skin cancer (n=769) and without (n=18,405).
Participants with a history of nonmelanoma skin cancer had a crude incidence rate of subsequent cancers of 293.5 per 10,000 person-years, compared with 77.8 for those without a history.
After adjusting for age, the researchers reported an association between the risk of developing subsequent cancers and a personal history of nonmelanoma skin cancer (RR=2.04; 95% CI, 1.75-2.39). Despite adjustments for factors like BMI and history of sunburn, the risk remained similar.
The researchers reported a trend toward a higher RR of subsequent cancer in patients diagnosed with nonmelanoma skin cancer at younger ages. Those between the ages of 25 and 44 years had a RR of 2.61 (95% CI, 0.83-8.18), and the risk gradually decreased in older age groups.
J Natl Cancer Inst. 2008;100:1-8.