High Citrus Consumption May Increase Melanoma Risk

Takeaway

• High citrus consumption was associated with a significantly increased risk of melanoma.
• Consumption of oranges and orange juice showed an independent association with the risk of melanoma.

Why this matters

• Findings support previous evidence of the photosensitivity and photocarcinogenicity of psoralens and support the hypothesis that high consumption of psoralen-rich foods may increase the risk of melanoma.

Study design

• This study included 198,964 participants (1592 melanoma cases; 197,372 control participants) from the UK Biobank cohort.
• Data on citrus consumption were collected via 5 rounds of 24-hour recall questionnaires.
• Funding: National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and others.

Key results

• After adjustment for potential confounders, the risk of melanoma was significantly higher among participants in the highest category of total citrus consumption (>2 servings/day) vs those with no consumption (adjusted OR [aOR], 1.63; 95% CI, 1.24-2.12; P_trend=.0051).
• For individual citrus products, aORs (95% CIs) were 1.79 (1.07-2.78; P_trend=.043) and 1.54 (1.10-2.10; P_trend=.021) for the highest consumption of oranges and orange juice (>1 serving/day), respectively.
• The risk of melanoma was even greater in fair/very fair-skinned participants with high citrus consumption (aOR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.31-2.29).
• A decreased risk of melanoma was observed in olive-skinned participants consuming half a serving of citrus per day (aOR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.23-0.89).

Limitations

• Dietary data were self-reported, likely resulting in nondifferential misclassification.

This clinical summary originally appeared on Univadis, part of the Medscape Professional Network.