Firefighter Skin Cancer and Sun Protection Practices

Abstract

psoriasis. 3-5 Crude point estimates did not suggest an increased HZ risk in systemically treated patients with psoriasis, and we found no significant differences in HZ risk among those exposed to biologic vs nonbiologic therapy after adjusting for age and sex. Limitations. limitations of the study include lack of data on disease severity and potentially limited generalizability to other healthcare settings. Conclusions | Among a cohort of patients with moderate-tosevere psoriasis who were treated with a systemic agent on cohort entry, we found no significant differences in HZ risk at time of HZ diagnosis among those treated with systemic therapy vs no systemic therapy, and among systemically treated patients, among those treated with biologics versus no biologic agents. Our results are similar to those of a recently published retrospective cohort study 4 that found no significant association between biologics as single agents and adjusted HZ risk in patients with psoriasis. We previously reported an increased risk of bacterial skin and soft tissue infections among those treated with biologics compared with those treated with nonbiologics in this cohort. 6 Biologics block the activity of cytokines such as TNF-α, which plays a role in protecting against bacterial infections and inhibiting reactivation of latent viruses. Incident rates of HZ were increased in systemically treated patients with psoriasis as compared with the general population. However, we found no significant differences in HZ risk among those exposed to biologic vs nonbiologic therapy after adjusting for age and sex. Our results suggest that among systemically treated psoriasis patients, biologics may preferentially inhibit immune mechanisms specific for bacterial defense while sparing cell-mediated immune responses specific for maintaining VZV latency.

Cancer incidence amongst UK firefighters

“…Skin cancer was most prevalent amongst firefighters diagnosed with cancer after joining the Fire and Rescue Service (Fig. 1 ), mirroring international findings 23 – 26 . The most common cause of skin cancer is exposure to UV radiation 27 .…”

“…Skin cancer was most prevalent amongst firefighters diagnosed with cancer after joining the Fire and Rescue Service (Fig. 1), mirroring international findings [23][24][25][26] www.nature.com/scientificreports/ radiation 27 . Although the survey did not account for time spent working outdoors without protective clothing, firefighters who actively sunbathe/use sunbeds were not found to be at a significantly increased risk of cancer compared to those that never sunbathe (OR = 0.8, 0.6-1.0).…”

DNA methylation among firefighters

“…A higher risk of colorectal cancer was also observed in a 2006 meta-analysis of 32 studies on firefighters [ 5 ]. Several studies have also reported higher prevalence and risk of non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancer among firefighters [ 5 – 7 , 88 ].…”

Prevalence and predictors of skin cancer screening among a sample of US volunteer firefighters

“…The prevalence of ever receiving skin cancer screening in this study of volunteer firefighters (26.1%) was almost half that reported from a cross-sectional study of 2399 male career firefighters from Florida (47.3% screened). 12 Compared to the volunteer firefighters in our study, these career firefighters were similar in age but had fewer years of firefighting (14.7 years). 12 In both studies, the proportion of respondents using sunscreen and who perceived themselves as more likely to burn with prolonged sun exposure were similar.…”