CUTANEOUS MALIGNANT-MELANOMA IN WOMEN AND THE ROLE OF ORAL-CONTRACEPTIVES

The role of oral contraceptives (OC) in the aetiology of cutaneous mal ignant melanoma (CMM) has been controversially discussed over the last two decades. In an extensive literature search we identified 18 case- control studies, published between 1977 and 1996, offering information on this relationship. Using a meta-analytical approach we combined th e study-specific risk estimates and derived a summary odds ratio of 0. 95 (95% confidence interval: 0.87-1.04), Based on the data of 3796 cas es and 9442 controls, we thus found no evidence for an aetiological ro le of OC use in the development of CMM.