Skin Cancer May Increase Risk Of Other Cancers

A new study from the US suggests that people who have had nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) may be at increased risk of developing other cancers, including those that affect other parts of the body.

The study is the work of Dr Jiping Chen of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and Dr Anthony Alberg of the Medical University of South Carolina, and colleagues, and is published on August 26 in the online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Previous research has already shown a link between a history of NMSC and increased risk of developing melanoma, a rarer but more malignant form of skin cancer that causes most deaths from skin cancer, but it is not clear whether NSMC is also a risk factor for cancers that affect other parts of the body.

Chen and Alberg and colleagues analyzed data from a prospective cohort study known as CLUE II, which is based in Washington County, also in Maryland. They found 769 people in the cohort had been diagnosed with NMSC during a 16 year follow up period since the study started in 1989, and 18,405 people had no history of the disease over the same period. They then compared the risk of developing other types of cancer in the two groups.

Source:

1. Skin Cancer May Increase Risk Of Other Cancers