Melanoma characteristics in patients with a history of UV tanning bed usage

Source: MDLinx, April 2020

In the present study, the researchers sought to assess the impact of tanning bed use on the behavior of subsequent melanomas. Utilizing an institutional registry, cases of invasive cutaneous melanoma who finished a baseline questionnaire within 1?year of the biopsy were ascertained. Among 141 cases, compared with men, a higher percentage of women reported tanning bed usage. Tanning bed usage was not a significant independent predictor of 5-year overall survival after controlling for the effects of gender and nodal status. For patients with no tanning bed melanoma relative to those with a history of tanning bed use, if they exclude the patient with MUP on the basis that more of these are mucosal for origin, lower TNM stage at presentation is observed. Furthermore, patients with tanning beds are younger and more likely to be female but with an equal mortality rate.