Cutaneous melanoma following cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia in western Washington State

Stimulated by a recent report from a Norwegian pathology institute of an excess risk of melanoma among women with cervical neoplasia, we analyzed the relevant data from a population-based cancer registry serving western Washington State (United States). Among 11,693 women diagnosed with cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN) between 1974 and 1989 who were followed-up for at least a year, 14 cases of cutaneous melanoma were identified, in comparison with 13.7 cases expected (relative risk = 1.0, 95 percent confidence interval = 0.5-1.7) based on the rates of melanoma among all women who resided in this area. While these results are at odds with those recently reported from the pathology institute, they are similar to those obtained in previous cancer-registry studies in several countries, which found little or no excess occurrence of melanoma following cervical cancer.