Melanoma risk and preventive behaviors among men and women

In vivo skin fluorescence imaging in young Caucasian adults with early malignant melanomas

Background

Human cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) is an aggressive cancer showing a dramatic worldwide increase in incidence over the past few decades. The most prominent relative epidemiological increase has been disclosed in young women. The aim of the study was to assess the effects of chronic sun exposures in order to rate the extend of melanocytic stimulations in the vicinity of CMM.

Methods

The study was designed to evaluate the melanin distribution and density using ultraviolet light illumination. The present study was performed on surgical excision specimens of thin CMM lesion removed from the upper limbs of 55 Caucasian adults (37 women and 18 men). Two control groups comprised 23 men and 21 women of similar ages who had medium-size congenital melanocytic nevi, also present on the upper limbs. The peritumoral skin was scrutinized using a Visioscan^® VC98 device, revealing the faint mosaic melanoderma (FMM) pattern that grossly indicates early signs of chronic photodamage in epidermal melanin units.

Results

The median extent of relative FMM was significantly higher in the CMM male group. By contrast, the CMM female group showed a reverse bimodal distribution in FMM size. Only 12/37 (32.5%) of the CMM female group had an increased FMM size, whereas 25/37 (67.5%) of females with CMM had a global FMM extent in the normal range, relative to the controls.

Conclusion

Thin CMM supervening in young women appear unrelated to repeat photoexposure. Other mechanisms are possibly involved.

Streamlining cutaneous melanomas in young women of the Belgian Mosan region

Sporadic cutaneous melanoma (SCM) has shown a dramatic increase in incidence in Caucasian populations over the past few decades. A particular epidemiological increase was reported in women during their childbearing age. In the Belgian Mosan region, a progressive unremitting increase in SCM incidence was noticed in young women for the past 35 years. The vast majority of these SCMs were of the superficial type without any obvious relationship with a large number of melanocytic nevi or with signs of frequent and intense sunlight exposures as disclosed by the extent in the mosaic subclinical melanoderma. A series of investigations pointed to a possible relationship linking the development of some SCM to the women hormonal status including the effect of hormonal disruptors. These aspects remain, however, unsettled and controversial. It is possible to differentiate and clearly quantify the SCM shape, size, scalloped border, and variegated pigmentation using computerized morphometry as well as fractal and multifractal methods.