Association of Skin Cancer and Indoor Tanning in Sexual Minority Men and Women

Abstract

IMPORTANCE Skin cancer, the most common cancer in the United States, is highly associated with outdoor and indoor tanning behaviors. Although indoor tanning has been suggested to be more common among sexual minority (self-reported as homosexual, gay, or bisexual) men compared with heterosexual men, whether rates of skin cancer vary by sexual orientation is unknown.OBJECTIVE To investigate whether skin cancer prevalence and indoor tanning behaviors vary by sexual orientation in the general population.

Skin Cancer Risk in Gay and Bisexual Men

“…The findings reported by Mansh and colleagues 1 add to the growing list of sexual orientation health disparities that have been revealed when sexual orientation has been measured. 6 Sexual minority men are at increased risk for developing not only skin cancer but also other forms of cancer, 7 human immunodeficiency virus, 8 substance use disorders, 9 and mental illness.…”

“…Nonsignificant differences emerged between heterosexual and sexual minority women. Although Mansh and colleagues 1 did not statistically compare the rates of skin cancer between sexual minority men and women, it is worth noting that sexual minority men reported the highest rates across sex and sexual orientation.…”

“…The results from Mansh and colleagues 1 have implications for both clinical care and research. Assessing sexual orientation as part of the initial patient interview in clinical dermatology settings could identify men at elevated risk for skin cancer and possible indoor tanners.…”

“…In this issue of JAMA Dermatology , Mansh and colleagues 1 report results from the first known study to examine the prevalence of skin cancer in sexual minorities. The authors leveraged large US-representative and California-representative epidemiological databases to explore self-reported diagnoses of skin cancer and use of indoor tanning among nearly 200 000 adults.…”

“…In addition to sexual orientation disparities in skin cancer diagnoses, Mansh and colleagues 1 reported substantial disparities in a key skin cancer risk behavior: indoor tanning. Sexual minority men reported a 12-month prevalence of any indoor tanning between 5.1% and 7.4% compared with 1.5% to 1.6% among heterosexual men, 2.6% to 4.1% among sexual minority women, and 5.0% to 6.5% among heterosexual women.…”