Younger Patients with History of Skin Cancer who Smoke More Likely to Develop Extra-Cutaneous Cancers

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

In a study published online ahead of print in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, researchers sought to determine whether a history of nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) and/or melanoma is associated with extracutaneous cancers.

Data from 447,801 adult participants in the 1997-2011 National Health Interview Survey was assessed, including their history of NMSC, melanoma and 27 extracutaneous cancers. They found that NMSC was associated with a higher risk for one or more extracutaneous malignancies, as was a history of melanoma.

Extracutaneous cancers were found more often in younger patients and Caucasian patients with NMSC or melanoma.  In addition, they researchers found that smokers with a history of NMSC or melanoma that were between the ages of 18 and 39 had even higher risk of developing an extracutaneous malignancy.

Patients with a history of NMSC were more likely to develop cancers of the bladder, brain, breast, colon, esophagus, kidney, lung, lymphoma, melanoma, prostate, soft tissue, throat/pharynx, thyroid and uterus, while those with melanoma were more likely to develop bladder, breast, colon, kidney, lung, pancreas, prostate, soft tissue, throat/pharynx, thyroid and uterus cancers.