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Is phototherapy in neonates a risk factor for malignant melanoma development?
1Division of Dermatology, Karolinska Institutet, Danderyd Hospital, Sweden.
Objective:
To determine whether phototherapy of the newborn's sensitive skin could be a risk factor for malignant melanoma.
Design:
Retrospective study from 1973 to 1992.
Setting:
The Swedish Medical Birth Registry and the Swedish Cancer Registry.
Patients:
Thirty cases of childhood malignant melanoma and 120 matched controls.
Intervention:
None.
Main Outcome Measures:
Data in birth and cancer reports and from death certificates in Sweden.
Results:
None of the patients with childhood malignant melanoma had received phototherapy, in comparison with 11 of the controls. This difference was not significant (P = .08; Fisher exact test).
Conclusion:
This preliminary report shows no significant risk of developing childhood malignant melanoma after phototherapy of the skin in neonates with hyperbilirubinemia. However, the median follow-up time was only 18 years.