DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS, PIGMENTARY AND CUTANEOUS RISK-FACTORS FOR SQUAMOUS-CELL CARCINOMA OF THE SKIN - A CASE-CONTROL STUDY

of the skin (SCC) in a cohort of people followed from 1987 to 1994. Su bjects were residents of Geraldton, Western Australia, who were betwee n 40 and 64 years of age in 1987, On 2 occasions, in 1987 and 1992, de rmatologists examined participants for skin cancers. Subjects were als o asked on several occasions about skin cancers that they had had trea ted. Migrants to Australia had reduced risks of SCC. Furthermore, peop le who migrated to Australia early in life or, equivalently, lived in Australia for a long time had a higher risk than immigrants who arrive d later in life or more recently. People who had southern European anc estry had a much lower risk of SCC than other subjects, most of whom w ere of British or northern European origin. Among Australian born subj ects of British or northern European ancestry, the skin's sensitivity to sunlight was strongly associated with SCC. The pigmentary traits of hair colour, eye colour and skin colour showed weaker associations. T he degree of freckling on the arm was strongly predictive of risk. The risk of SCC increased strongly with increasing evidence of cutaneous solar damage and was most strongly associated with the number of solar keratoses. Our results show that sensitivity to sunlight and high lev els of exposure to sunlight are important determinants of the risk of SCC. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.