Family history, radiation therapy associated with pediatric melanoma
Source: Healio, December 2023
Key takeaways:
- Adolescents with a family history were more likely to be diagnosed with melanoma than controls (P < .046).
- They were also more likely to have received radiation therapy (P < .03).
Patients diagnosed with melanoma as an adolescent or child were more likely to have a family history of melanoma or have undergone radiation therapy, according to a study.
“Given the rarity of pediatric melanoma and differences in its clinical, histological and lymphatic sampling presentations, it is important to better explore risk factors for the occurrence and negative outcomes of melanoma in these patients,” Elena B. Hawryluk, MD, PhD, dermatologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, and colleagues wrote. “This study sought to characterize the clinical features of children and young adults with melanoma and identify factors associated with occurrence of pediatric melanoma.”