Inverse Association Between Atopy and Melanoma: A Case-control Study

Abstract

Heightened cutaneous immune surveillance in atopic patients may inhibit development of melanoma. The aim of this study was to analyse the association between atopy and melanoma (development and outcome). A total of 188 cases of melanoma and 596 healthy controls were interviewed by telephone with a standardized questionnaire on atopic, demographic and melanoma characteristics. Cases were matched with controls on important confounders (age, sex, sunburn sensitivity, hair colour, number of moles, sunburn as juvenile, ever solarium, familial melanoma). Melanoma outcome data (disease relapse and death) within cases were retrieved. Analysis showed a general inverse association between atopy and melanoma development, but this was statistically significant only for a history of personal atopy (odds ratio 0.53, 95% confidence interval: 0.30-0.96, p-value = 0.04). Among melanoma patients, atopy did not affect survival or progression. In conclusion, this study suggests an inverse association between a history of atopy and melanoma development, but not with disease progression.

Atopic Dermatitis and Skin Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review

“…Eight population-based cohort studies [ 6 , 7 , 9 , 13 , 18 , 26 – 28 ], and eight case–control studies were included in this analysis [ 8 , 10 – 12 , 14 – 17 ]. Of these, one is from Finland [ 9 ], two from Sweden [ 7 , 27 ], three from Denmark [ 6 , 18 , 26 ], four from USA [ 8 , 10 , 13 , 15 , 17 ], one from Belgium [ 16 ], one from Canada [ 11 ], one from Montenegro [ 12 ], one from Netherlands [ 14 ], and two from UK [ 18 , 28 ].

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“…[ 15 ] 1.83 NA USA Case–control study 25–74 Female 1312 SCC Multiple logistic regression Age, gender, and skin reaction to the first hour of sunlight during summer (blister, painful sunburn followed by peeling, mild sunburn followed by tanning, tanning with no sunburn) 8 1.52 NA USA Case–control study 25–74 Female NA BCC Multiple logistic regression Age, gender, and skin reaction to the first hour of sunlight during summer (blister, painful sunburn followed by peeling, mild sunburn followed by tanning, tanning with no sunburn) 8 Marasigan et al. [ 16 ] 0.46 NA Belgium Case–control study 57.4* for controls, 52.2* for cases Male and female 232 Melanoma Conditional logistic regression Age, sex, sunburn sensitivity, hair color, number of moles, sunburn as juvenile, ever sunbed use, familial melanoma 8 Cho et al. [ 8 ] 1.75 1996–2010 USA Case–control study 69.6 (13.5) versus 69.5 (13.5)* Female 1179 SCC Logistic regression analysis Race, smoking history, ionizing radiation exposure, corticosteroid and cyclosporine use, non-SCC skin cancers, odds ratio for SCC development 9 D'Arcy et al.…”

Noncutaneous and Cutaneous Cancer Risk in Patients With Atopic Dermatitis

“…Risk of bias assessment found that 3 of the 8 cohort studies 7,13,14 had a serious risk of bias, and 5 studies 5,6,12,26,28 had a moderate risk of bias (eTable 1 in the Supplement). Among case-control studies, 10 studies 7,22,23,[33][34][35]40,43,46,54 were found to have a serious risk of bias, and 38 studies 4,17-21,24-26,28-32, [36][37][38][39]41,42,44,45,[47][48][49][50][51][52][53][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63] had a moderate risk of bias (eTable 2 in the Supplement). Publication bias assessment was undertaken for case-control studies reporting effect estimates for cancers of the central nervous system because this was the only subgroup with at least 10 included studies (15 studies).…”

Desloratadine and loratadine use associated with improved melanoma survival

“…Prescription-free use, non-dispensed doses, or use of other types of antihistamines is here considered non-use.d The crude analysis includes 24 144 individuals, and the adjusted analysis includes 20 579 individuals.F I G U R E 1 Desloratadine use and melanoma survival for different age groups. Survival of CMM patients, 65 years of age and below, and above age 65, who used desloratadine compared with CMM patients who did not use any antihistamines increased risk of melanoma for those with allergies, rather than any protective effect, and while atopy has been shown to be inversely associated with melanoma risk, it has not been connected to any difference in prognosis,10 and other studies have shown both reduced and increased and no difference in melanoma risk for atopic patients 11,12.…”

“…Prescription-free use, non-dispensed doses, or use of other types of antihistamines is here considered non-use. melanoma for those with allergies, rather than any protective effect, and while atopy has been shown to be inversely associated with melanoma risk, it has not been connected to any difference in prognosis,10 and other studies have shown both reduced and increased and no difference in melanoma risk for atopic patients 11,12. A major advantage of desloratadine and loratadine when…”