A cohort study of personal and family history of skin cancer in relation to all-cause and cancer-specific mortality

Cancer Causes Control. 2021 Jan;32(1):75-82. doi: 10.1007/s10552-020-01359-0. Epub 2020 Oct 29.

Abstract

Purpose: Even though the fatality rate from skin cancers is low, evidence from a few cohort studies has raised the possibility that people with a personal history of skin cancer may have a higher all-cause mortality rate compared with those without a personal history of skin cancer. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the potential links between a personal history or family history of skin cancer and all-cause and cancer-specific mortality METHODS: A prospective cohort (n = 8,622) was assembled within the NHANES I follow-up study. Cox Proportional Hazard Regression analysis was used to estimate the hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association for personal and family history of skin cancer and all-cause and cancer-specific mortality.

Results: After adjustment for several potential confounding variables, a personal history of skin cancer was associated with decreased risk for all-cause mortality (HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.61-0.85), whereas the results for cancer-specific mortality were consistent with a null association (HR 0.97, 95% CI 0.74-1.27). A family history of skin cancer was not significantly associated with all-cause mortality (HR 0.97, 95% CI 0.76-1.24) or cancer-specific mortality (HR 0.69, 95% CI 0.38-1.24).

Conclusion: The results of the present study do not support the hypothesis that a personal history or family history of skin cancer is associated with an increased risk of all-cause or cancer-specific mortality. The high prevalence of skin cancer adds to the public health significance of this question, providing a strong rationale for further research to resolve this question.

Keywords: All-cause mortality; Cancer-specific mortality; Cohort; Family history of skin cancer; Personal history of skin cancer.

MeSH terms

  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Medical History Taking
  • Middle Aged
  • Nutrition Surveys
  • Prevalence
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Prospective Studies
  • Risk Factors
  • Skin Neoplasms / mortality*