Organic chemicals and malignant melanoma

Chemists with cancer were interviewed to generate hypotheses that might explain an apparent excess of malignant melanoma in chemists in Los Angeles County (LAC). The chemists were identified by the LAC Cancer Surveillance Program, a population-based cancer registry. Interviews that included information on work history and exposure to specific chemicals were conducted by telephone. Chemists with melanoma were found to be better educated than chemists with other cancers and they reported more work with organic chemicals. They also cited more exposure to multiple chemicals, solvents, plastics, pesticides, benzoyl peroxide, and ionizing radiation. Although differences in educational level may account for the differences in exposure reported by cases and controls, the hypotheses that specific chemical exposures are related to melanoma occurrence are plausible and deserve further study. We also suggest that this method of generating hypotheses about cancer causes using cases identified from registries could be used more extensively.