MELANOMA AND OCCUPATION - RESULTS OF A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

Objectives-Associations between occupational exposures and the occurre nce of cutaneous melanoma were examined as part of a large population based case-control study of 19 cancer sites. Methods-Cases were men ag ed 35 to 70 years old, resident in Montreal, Canada, with a new histol ogically confirmed cutaneous melanoma (n = 103). There were two contro l groups, a randomly selected population control group (n = 533), and a cancer control group (n = 533) randomly selected from among subjects with other types of cancer in the large study. Odds ratios for the oc currence of melanoma were calculated for each exposure circumstance fo r which there were more than four exposed cases (85 substances, 13 occ upations, and 20 industries) adjusting for age, ethnicity, and number of years of schooling. Results-Significantly increased risk of melanom a was found for exposure to four substances (fabric dust, plastic dust , trichloroethylene, and a group containing paints used on surfaces ot her than metal and varnishes used on surfaces other than wood), three occupations (warehouse clerks, salesmen, and miners and quarry-men), a nd two industries (clothing and non-metallic mineral products).Conclus ions-Most of the occupational circumstances examined were not associat ed with melanoma, nor is there any strong evidence from previous resea rch that any of those are risk factors. For the few occupational circu mstances were associated in our data melanoma, the statistical evidenc e was weak, and there is little or no supporting evidence in the scien tific literature. On the whole, there is no persuasive evidence of occ upational risk factors for melanoma, but the studies have been too sma ll or have involved too much misclassification of exposure for this co nclusion to be definitive.