Environmental risk factors for relapse of melanoma

Abstract

AimTo identify lifestyle factors affecting risk of relapse.MethodsA comparison of 131 relapsed melanoma patients with 147 non-relapsers.ResultsRelapsers were more likely to report financial hardship using a number of different measures including access to holidays and feeling financially insecure (odds ratio (OR) 5.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.5, 21.4)). Relapsers worked longer hours (mean 37 h per week compared with 31, p = 0.02). There was no reported difference in stress associated with recent life events. There was no effect of housing quality, employment factors or body mass index (BMI) on risk of relapse. There was a protective effect of antibiotics in the peri-operative period.ConclusionThe study provides preliminary evidence for adverse effects of chronic financial hardship, but not recent stressful events on cancer relapse. As these data were collected in a retrospective case–control study subject to recall bias, the data must now be explored in a prospective study.

Socioeconomic status influences the likelihood but not the outcome of liver resection for colorectal liver metastasis

“…To categorize SES, this study used the ACORN ® system, which has been used in a number of epidemiological studies . This system has advantages in that economic data are drawn from a wide range of sources in addition to property values.…”

Vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms, serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels, and melanoma: UK case–control comparisons and a meta-analysis of published VDR data

“…Recruitment of patients took place between May 2000 and January 2005 from geographically-defined areas of the UK (the Northern and Yorkshire, Oxford, Trent and West Midlands Health Regions). This study is described fully elsewhere in a paper in which questionnaire data collected from 274 of the 300 cases were reported (41). …”

Melanoma Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Clinical Phenotypes

“…Low socioeconomic status is also regarded as a poor predictor of melanoma outcomes and has been associated with disparities in utilization of sentinel lymph node biopsy (Zell et al, 2008;Bilimoria et al, 2009). Financial concerns were found to influence outcomes of disease in melanoma patients; a retrospective study found that perceived financial difficulty (compared to patients with an equivalent deprivation score) was related to recurrence risk, after adjusting for histological characteristics of the melanoma (Beswick et al, 2008). Examination of SEER data of melanoma patients for the effect of marital status on melanoma stage, after controlling for a number of factors including histology, anatomic site, and socioeconomic status, suggested that unmarried patients had a higher risk of late-stage cutaneous melanoma diagnosis (McLaughlin et al, 2010).…”