A comparison of melanoma mortality among WWII veterans of the Pacific and European theaters

PURPOSE: To determine whether cutaneous melanoma is associated with past mi litary service in tropical locations, as a test if the 'critical period' su nlight exposure hypothesis. METHODS: Mortality data from a longitudinal follow-up study of 5524 former prisoners of war (POW) and 3713 non-POW veteran controls, all white male ve terans of World War II (WWII), were examined to determine whether death att ributed to melanoma was associated with history of military service in Paci fic or European theaters during WWII or with POW status. Deaths from colon cancer were used as a comparison outcome. RESULTS: During 50 years of follow-up, there were 18 deaths from melanoma a nd 83 deaths from colon cancer among the cohort. Melanoma mortality varied with theater of war and POW status, whereas colon cancer mortality was simi lar for all subgroups. Pacific War POWs were at the highest risk overall (o dds ratio (OR), 3.35; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.39-28.76), whereas ve terans of the Pacific War had nearly the same risk of melanoma (OR, 1.04; 9 5% CI, 0.09-11.94) compared with veterans of the European War. European the ater POWs had a higher risk than non-POW veterans (OR, 2.76; 95% CI, 0.31-2 4.81). None of these differences, however, were statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: To the extent that POW status is associated with higher sun ex posure, these data are consistent with the hypothesis that exposure to high levels of solar radiation in young adulthood is associated with a higher r isk of melanoma mortality. Ann Epidemiol 2000;10:192-195. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.