Abstract 5480: Consumption of Lake Ontario sport fish and the incidence of melanoma in the New York State Angler Cohort Study (NYSACS)

Abstract

Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other persistent organic pollutants (e.g., toxaphene) has been linked to an increased risk for melanoma in occupational settings. Great Lakes fish bioaccumulate PCBs and organochlorine pesticides, thus consumption is thought to be an important non-occupational exposure route. We investigated the consumption of sport-caught fish from Lake Ontario and the incidence of melanoma in the New York State Angler Cohort Study (NYSACS), a prospective cohort of 17,097 anglers and their spouses aged 18 to 40 years old at enrollment. Participants completed a mailed self-administered questionnaire upon enrollment in 1991. The questionnaire queried for the number of years that fish from L. Ontario were consumed, frequency of species specific fish consumption as well as demographic factors, smoking history and other selected potential confounders. As of December 31, 2008, fifty-one histologically confirmed, first primary, incident melanoma cases were identified via the New York State Cancer Registry. Vital status was determined by linkage with the Social Security Administration Death file. Prevalent cancer cases (n = 196) were excluded. Of the remaining 16,901cohort members, 10% (n=1,672) were lost to follow-up and censored in the year they left New York State. Analyses were restricted to Caucasians (n= 16,326). Fish consumption was dichotomized into never vs. ever. Duration of consumption was categorized into tertiles based on the distribution among the cases reporting eating Lake Ontario sport-caught fish. Poisson regression was used to calculate rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals, adjusting for age, income, years of education and number of years fishing in New York State. Lake Ontario sport-caught fish consumption was weakly associated with melanoma risk RR=1.33(0.6-2.99) as compared with non-consumers. Duration of Lake Ontario fish consumption was not convincingly associated with melanoma incidence (non-eaters RR = 1.0 (ref); 1st tertile RR = 1.07 (95% CI = 0.38-3.06); 2nd tertile RR = 1.41 (95% CI = 0.49-4.03); 3rd tertile RR = 2.16 (95% CI = 0.79-5.89); p-for trend =0.10. Although interpretation of our preliminary results is complicated by a small number of cases (n=52) and inability to control for potential confounding from sun exposure, they suggest that consumption of Great Lakes fish contaminated with PCBs and other organochlorine compounds was not associated with incidence of melanoma. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5480. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-5480