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; Ptrend=.0051).
For individual citrus products, aORs (95% CIs) were 1.79 (1.07-2.78; Ptrend=.043) and 1.54 (1.10-2.10; Ptrend=.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.
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Any views expressed above are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of WebMD or Medscape.
Cite this: Sarfaroj Khan. High Citrus Consumption May Increase Melanoma Risk - Medscape - Apr 05, 2021.
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