Skin cancer incidence is highly associated with ultraviolet-B radiation history

    Authors

    N. B. Chang; R. Feng; Z. Q. Gao;W. Gao

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health.

    Keywords

    UV-B; UV exposure; Skin cancer incidence; Skin cancer risk; Melanoma; risk; Satellite data; Nimbus-7/TOMS; Regional variation; Spatiotemporal; analysis; Environmental health; MELANOMA RISK; UV-RADIATION; NORTHERN; MODELS; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Infectious Diseases

    Abstract

    Recently, the increased amount of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) exposure due to ozone depletion has been found to be associated with increased incidence of skin cancer across the world. The quantification of individual, regional, and historical UV exposure directly affects establishment of the association between skin cancer and UV exposure, but accurate assessment and measurement have been challenging for decades. As a sequence, cumulative studies using different metrics reported conflicting results on whether UV radiation, including sunburns, early childhood sun exposure, and chronic exposure, increases melanoma risk. This paper aims to establish the relationship between UV-B and melanoma incidence across the continental U.S. using an ecological approach that incorporate more accurate UV-B exposure measured by the National Aeronautical and Space Administration Nimbus-7 total ozone mapping spectrometer, and the United State Department of Agriculture ground-based network. Using statistical linear mixed models, we found strong positive associations between the skin cancer and the past UV exposure or the past cumulative 3-year UV exposure 3 or 4 years ago. UV has regional distributions and its regional effects on the skin cancer incidence are still significant after adjusting the effect of UV exposure. Research findings yield deepened understanding of spatiotemporal distribution of melanoma incidence rates and a greater appreciation for the complexity and heterogeneity of melanoma risk factors especially the UV-B exposure at different temporal and spatial scales. (C) 2010 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health

    Volume

    213

    Issue/Number

    5

    Publication Date

    1-1-2010

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    359

    Last Page

    368

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000282027700006

    ISSN

    1438-4639

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