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Pregnancy History and Incidence of Melanoma in Women: A Pooled Analysis

Cancer Causes & Control volume 17, pages 11–19 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

There is evidence that pregnancy history including age at first birth and parity may play a role in risk of cutaneous melanoma in women, although, epidemiological findings are inconsistent. We conducted a collaborative analysis of these factors using the original data from ten completed case–control studies (2391 cases and 3199 controls), and assessed the potential confounding effects of socioeconomic, pigmentary, and sun exposure-related factors. We found no overall association with ever having a live birth (pooled odds ratio (pOR) 0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.67–1.35). However, we detected a reduced risk of melanoma among women with higher parity (≥5 versus no live births pOR 0.76, 95% CI 0.49–1.18, each live birth pOR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91–0.99, p trend = 0.05). Women with both earlier age at first birth (e.g., <20 years) and higher parity (e.g., ≥5 live births) had a particularly lower risk than women with later age at first birth (e.g., ≥25 years) and lower parity (e.g., <5 live births) (pOR 0.33, 95% CI 0.14–0.75). The results are compatible with an effect of reproductive history-related factors on melanoma risk, but also could reflect differences in other factors, such as sun exposure history.

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Fig. 1

Abbreviations

OR:

odds ratio

pOR:

pooled odds ratio

CI:

confidence interval

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the investigators and staff of the contributing studies, and Jim Dykes and Mary Ann Greene for all their programming efforts.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Section of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, 7927 Rubin Bldg., One Medical Center Drive, Hanover, Lebanon, New Hampshire, 03756-0001, USA

    Margaret R. Karagas & Michael S. Zens

  2. Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Bayview Avenue, G106 2075, M4N 3M5, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Therese A. Stukel

  3. Section of Epidemiology, Institute of Cancer Research, Brookes Lawley Building, 15 Cotswold Rd, SM2 5NG, Sutton, Surrey, UK

    Anthony J. Swerdlow

  4. Registro Tumori Piemonte, Via San Francesco Da Paola, 31, 10123, Torino, Italy

    Stefano Rosso

  5. Dermatology clinic, Slotsgade 14, DK 3400, Hillerød, Denmark

    Anne Osterlind

  6. Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California, 1441 Eastlake Ave., MS 44, 33800, Los Angeles, CA, 90033-0800, USA

    Thomas Mack

  7. Good Samaritan Hospital, 407 14th Avenue, SE PO Box 1247, Puyallup WA, 98371-0192, USA

    Connie Kirkpatrick

  8. Cancer Epidemiology Studies, 3333 California Street, Suite 280 UCSF Box 1228, San Francisco, CA, 94143-1228, USA

    Elizabeth A. Holly

  9. Queensland Institute of Medical Research, PO Royal Brisbane Hospital, Q4029, Brisbane, Australia

    Adele Green

  10. Section of Epidemiology, Cancer Control Agency of British Columbia, 600 W. 10th Avenue, BC V52 4E6, Vancouver, Canada

    Richard Gallagher

  11. Cancer Research and Registers, New South Wales Cancer Council, PO Box 572, Kings Cross, 1340, Australia

    J. Mark Elwood

  12. The University of Sydney, Edward Ford Building A27, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Bruce K. Armstrong

Authors
  1. Margaret R. Karagas
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  2. Michael S. Zens
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  3. Therese A. Stukel
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  4. Anthony J. Swerdlow
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  5. Stefano Rosso
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  6. Anne Osterlind
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  7. Thomas Mack
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  8. Connie Kirkpatrick
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  9. Elizabeth A. Holly
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  10. Adele Green
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  11. Richard Gallagher
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  12. J. Mark Elwood
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  13. Bruce K. Armstrong
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Margaret R. Karagas.

Additional information

Sponsored by US National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute; Grant numbers: 5 R01 CA62345 and CA52345. Bruce K. Armstrong is supported by a University of Sydney Medical Foundation Program.

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Karagas, M.R., Zens, M.S., Stukel, T.A. et al. Pregnancy History and Incidence of Melanoma in Women: A Pooled Analysis. Cancer Causes Control 17, 11–19 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-005-0281-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-005-0281-y

Keywords

  • Case–control studies
  • Data pooling
  • Melanoma
  • Parity