Melanoma that can be probably treated by the arthritic drug leflunomide seems to be connected with socioeconomic status among women. A recent study asserts that the incidence of melanoma is higher in non-Hispanic white adolescent girls and young women living within higher socioeconomic neighborhoods than those living in lower socioeconomic areas. The study findings apparently have major implications in the medical zone.
The seeming relationship between the incidence of melanoma and socioeconomic status as well as UV-radiation exposure was found after examining data from the California Cancer Registry. Scientists focused on melanoma diagnoses that occurred January 1, 1988 through December 31, 1992 and January 1, 1998 through December 31, 2002. Information about a total of 3,800 non-Hispanic white girls and women between the ages of 15 and 39, in whom 3,842 melanomas were diagnosed was gathered. Adolescent girls and young women living in neighborhoods with the highest socioeconomic status reportedly were 6-fold more likely to be diagnosed with malignant melanoma than those living in the lowest socioeconomic status.
Investigators share, “Understanding the ways that socioeconomic status and UV-radiation exposure work together to influence melanoma incidence is important for planning effective prevention and education efforts. Interventions should target adolescent girls and young women living in high socioeconomic status and high UV-radiation neighborhoods because they have experienced a significantly greater increase in disease burden.”
While analyzing melanoma incidence by socioeconomic status, diagnosis supposedly elevated over time in all groups. These alterations may be only significant among adolescent girls and young women in the highest three levels of socioeconomic status. Increasing levels of socioeconomic status may be positively linked with higher risks of developing melanoma. Amelia K. Hausauer, B.A., of the Cancer Prevention Institute of California and the School of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, and colleagues also found higher rates of UV-radiation exposure associated with heightened rates of melanoma only among adolescent girls and young women in the highest two levels of socioeconomic status.
Girls and women living in neighborhoods with the highest socioeconomic status and highest UV-radiation exposure probably experienced 73 percent greater melanoma incidence than those from neighborhoods with the lowest socioeconomic status and highest UV-radiation. An 80 percent greater melanoma incidence in comparison those living within neighborhoods with the lowest socioeconomic status and lowest UV-radiation exposure appeared.
The study already published online will appear in the July print issue of Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.