History of Skin Cancer Linked to Secondary Cancers

History of NMSC associated with a greater risk of secondary cancers at other sites
History of Skin Cancer Linked to Secondary Cancers

FRIDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- Men and women with a history of non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) are at modestly greater risk of secondary cancers at other sites, according to a study published online April 23 in PLOS Medicine.

Fengju Song, M.D., from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues prospectively followed 153,576 white men and women (from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses' Health Study, respectively) to examine the association between a history of NMSC and subsequent risk of malignancies at other sites.

After a follow-up of 833,496 and 2,116,178 person-years for the men and women, respectively, the researchers found that there were 29,447 cases of incident cancer other than NMSC. A history of NMSC was associated with an increased risk of non-melanoma primary cancers in both men (relative risk [RR], 1.11) and women (RR, 1.20). Men with a history of NMSC had an increased risk of melanoma (RR, 1.99), while women with a history of NMSC had an increased risk of breast cancer (RR, risk 1.19), lung cancer (RR, 1.32), and melanoma (RR, 2.58).

"This prospective study found a modestly increased risk of subsequent malignancies among individuals with a history of NMSC, specifically breast and lung cancer in women and melanoma in both men and women," Song and colleagues conclude.

One author disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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