CASE-CONTROL STUDY OF MALIGNANT-MELANOMA AMONG EMPLOYEES OF THE LAWRENCE-LIVERMORE-NATIONAL-LABORATORY

During 1972 to 1977, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) experienced increased diagnosis of malignant melanoma among employees . In 1984, a report on the results of a case-control study of 39 cases concluded that occupational factors, including exposures to ionizing radiation and to chemicals, caused the excess incidence. The study rep orted here, based on results from 69 case-control pairs, re-examines t he role of the occupational factors implicated by the earlier study in melanoma causation. Results from this study suggest that constitution al factors, including skin reactivity to sunlight, sunbathing frequenc y, and number of moles, explain most of the excess melanoma. Exposures to occupational factors, including ionizing radiation and chemicals, were found to be no different in cases than in controls. (C) 1997 Wile y-Liss, Inc.