Melanoma

Disease/Syndrome
Melanoma
Category
Cancer, Occupational
Acute/Chronic
Chronic
Synonyms
Melanoma skin cancer
Biomedical References
Comments
Solar radiation is a known carcinogen of skin cancer and melanoma in outdoor workers. [Siemiatycki, p. 326] "Two observations from epidemiological studies may help explain the paradox of the lack of association of melanoma with chronic sun exposure. First, outdoor workers are not at a substantially increased risk of melanoma; second, outdoor workers tend to have a higher-than-average ability to develop a tan. Outdoor workers tend to be constitutionally protected from solar skin damage and at a lower risk of skin cancer than workers in other occupations because of self-selection based on skin pigmentation. . . . There is sufficient evidence in humans for the carcinogenicity of welding. Current evidence establishes a causal association for ocular melanoma although it is not possible without a full review of welding to attribute the occurrence of ocular melanoma to UV radiation specifically." [Reference Link] "The association between sun exposure and the risk of melanoma seems complex. Previous studies have shown that although sunburn and intermittent sun exposure are associated with increased risk of melanoma, there is no, or an inverse, association between occupational (more continuous pattern) sun exposure and melanoma risk. . . . Our results suggest that occupational sun exposure does not increase risk of melanoma, even of melanomas situated on the head and neck." [PMID 24288300] "One of the paradoxes of the epidemiology of malignant melanoma is that, although among white people the rates tend to increase with nearness of residence to the Equator (Elwood et al., 1974) this is not so in Europe (Lee & Isssenberg, 1972; Hakulinen et al., 1978)." [PMID 7426301]
Latency/Incubation
Months to years
Diagnostic
Biopsy
ICD-9 Code
172.9
ICD-10 Code
C43.9

Symptoms/Findings, Job Tasks, and Agents Linked to This Disease

Agents

Hazardous agents that cause the occupational disease: