Year: 2015
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Acne reflects hormone imbalance and is a key component of several systemic diseases. We hypothesized that diagnosis of acne as a teenager might predict subsequent risk of hormone-related cancers. METHODS: We followed 99,128 female nurses in the Nurses' Health Study II cohort for 20 years (1989-2009) and used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) of 8 specific cancers (breast, thyroid, colorectal, ovarian, cervical, and endometrial cancers, melanoma, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma) for women with a history of severe teenage acne. RESULTS: After thoroughly adjusting for the previously known risk factors for each cancer, we found that among women with a history of severe teenage acne, the relative risk increased, with a multivariable-adjusted HR of 1.44 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-2.01) for melanoma. We replicated this association in an independent melanoma case-control study of 930 cases and 1026 controls (multivariable-adjusted odds ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.03-1.56). We also found that in both studies the individuals with teenage acne were more likely to have moles (52.7% vs 50.1%, P < .001 in the cohort study; and 55.2% vs 45.1%, P = .004 in the case-control study). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that a history of teenage acne might be a novel risk factor for melanoma independent from the known factors, which supports a need for continued investigation of these relationships.
Source: Cancer
DOI: 10.1002/cncr.29216
Authors: Mingfeng Zhang, Abrar A. Qureshi, Renée T. Fortner, Susan E. Hankinson, Qingyi Wei, Li‐E Wang, A. Heather Eliassen, Walter C. Willett, David J. Hunter, Jiali Han
Institutions: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Duke Medical Center, Duke Cancer Institute, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Indiana University Indianapolis, Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis
Language: English
Subfield: Oncology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Awards: PREMENOPAUSAL HORMONE LEVELS AND RISK OF BREAST CANCER, G3602225402, G4523881014, Life Course Cancer Epidemiology Cohort in Women, G6200764915, Risk Factors for Breast Cancer in Younger Nurses, Premenopausal Hormone Levels and Risk of Breast Cancer, G9000058679, G9000185549, Life Course Cancer Epidemiology Cohort in Women, Program for Training in Cancer Epidemiology
OpenAlex ID: W1519995350