(Reuters Health) - Using data from two long-term studies of women and men, researchers found a potential link between citrus consumption and malignant melanoma of the skin.
But the study did not test whether citrus fruits were the cause of the skin cancers, and more work will be needed to confirm the connection, the authors write in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The results, from a single “observational” study that may not reflect the whole U.S. population, should be interpreted with caution, said senior author Dr. Abrar Qureshi of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and Rhode Island Hospital.
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Qureshi worked on the study in collaboration with the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
“Cutaneous malignant melanoma is a potentially life-threatening form of skin cancer,” Qureshi said. “Although there have been recently incredible advances in the treatment of melanoma, melanoma prevention through the use of sun protection and skin cancer screening is recommended.”
The researchers used data on more than 63,000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study and 41,000 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, both of which ran from the mid-1980s to 2010. Every two to four years, researchers collected data on participants’ dietary patterns, and the men and women self-reported health events like melanoma diagnosis, which were confirmed with medical records.
The participants answered questions about how frequently they consumed grapefruit, oranges, grapefruit juice or orange juice, and the total of these four categories was considered an estimate of “overall citrus consumption,” although it does not include other citruses like lemons and limes.
Over more than 20 years of follow-up, the researchers noted 1,840 cases of melanoma. Compared to people who ate citrus less than twice a week, those who ate citrus two to four times per week had a 10 percent increased risk of melanoma.
Melanoma risk increased as citrus consumption increased, rising to a 36 percent increase in risk for people who ate the fruits more than 1.5 times per day, on average. Of the citrus fruits, grapefruit seemed to have the strongest association with melanoma.
Even accounting for varying amounts of sun exposure and the geographic location of the study participants, the association between citrus fruits and skin cancer was still high, Qureshi said.
Fresh citrus fruits contain furocoumarins, a family of photoactive compounds that can make an individual more sun sensitive, and make sun exposure more damaging to skin cells, Qureshi told Reuters Health by email.
“We are NOT recommending changing fruit consumption as these fruits and vegetables are important for overall health,” he said. “However, until we learn more about these furocoumarins, those consuming fresh citrus fruits on a regular basis should be extra careful with sun exposure, and depending on their outdoor activities they should wear appropriate sunscreen, hats and sun-protective clothing.”
In the U.S., there are about 30 cases of cutaneous malignant melanoma for every 100,000 individuals, according to Marianne Berwick of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, who wrote an editorial accompanying the findings.
It is the fifth most common cancer in the U.S. and sixth worldwide, Berwick told Reuters Health by email.
The authors of the new study were careful to account for as many other explanations as possible, but still it is too soon to generalize these findings to the average person, she said.
“This study must be replicated in order for it to be used for public health messages,” Berwick said.
SOURCE: bit.ly/1ekfGZD Journal of Clinical Oncology, online June 29, 2015.
Huh. Interesting. Welp, just like I never sunbathed, I can't blame this for my melanoma either because I think I've had fewer than 5 grapefruit in my life. #thanksobama #noreallythanksgenetics
I'm not even positive about the sun-melanoma link anymore either. I don't know if I would swear off grapefruit if I was a regular person, based on this one study. Probably only if I ate them really often and had other risk factors (like the ones I do lol).
Huh. Interesting. Welp, just like I never sunbathed, I can't blame this for my melanoma either because I think I've had fewer than 5 grapefruit in my life. #thanksobama #noreallythanksgenetics
I'm not even positive about the sun-melanoma link anymore either. I don't know if I would swear off grapefruit if I was a regular person, based on this one study. Probably only if I ate them really often and had other risk factors (like the ones I do lol).
Someone on ML who I am close with -- her mom had melanoma from an unidentified source. I'm saying that wrong. It seems her melanoma had originally started somewhere else and spread to become melanoma? But they could never figure out the original source.
Cancer is a very strange disease.
Hugs to you, shanbrite. Continue to kick cancer's filthy ass. I hope you are feeling well.
eta: if you don't mind my asking, what were the risk factors you mention above?
Post by orangeblossom on Jun 30, 2015 9:36:47 GMT -5
They're not recommending that people change their fruit consumption. This is just the first study, and more needs to be done. It's just showing there's a correlation. They have to tease out the causation and what that may mean for the future, if anything.
Huh. Interesting. Welp, just like I never sunbathed, I can't blame this for my melanoma either because I think I've had fewer than 5 grapefruit in my life. #thanksobama #noreallythanksgenetics
I'm not even positive about the sun-melanoma link anymore either. I don't know if I would swear off grapefruit if I was a regular person, based on this one study. Probably only if I ate them really often and had other risk factors (like the ones I do lol).
Someone on ML who I am close with -- her mom had melanoma from an unidentified source. I'm saying that wrong. It seems her melanoma had originally started somewhere else and spread to become melanoma? But they could never figure out the original source.
Cancer is a very strange disease.
Hugs to you, shanbrite. Continue to kick cancer's filthy ass. I hope you are feeling well.
eta: if you don't mind my asking, what were the risk factors you mention above?
I've heard of that too, voodoo (not being able to find the primary site of the cancer). Strange and scary, but it happens.
I'm totally open about everything. My risk factors are being pasty white (ie burning, not tanning), having a lot of miles in general, and family history. My dad has has a billion of the "good" skin cancers (basal cell and squamous cell), and one of his first cousins died of melanoma about 8ish years ago. I'm still a little salty about the fact that he always insisted it came from her dad's side of the family, so not ours, acting like we didn't have to worry as much, but it's impossible to actually know. Another major risk factor is having a bad burn before the age of 18. Just one of those supposedly increases your risk by like 50%.
Like I said, I never tanned, but unfortunately I usually had at least one burn a summer, just because of my fair skin and the places I've lived (lots of high elevation, hot places).
I was also pregnant when I was first diagnosed, which I believe was very much related, although they haven't documented a firm link yet. Melanoma is one of the few cancers that's connected to the immune system (out body can recognize it and fight it), and when you are PG, your immune system is lowered. Anecdotally, I've seen lots of women get mel or have a recurrance during or immediately after pregnancy. That said, I'm still so grateful it happened while I was PG because I don't know if I would have gone to the dr as quickly or at all if I wasn't.
Finally, mine was a weird one. I'm 100% sure it was nodular melanoma, not superficial spreading melanoma like most, based on my research. Even my PCP dismissed it and I would be dead now (years ago probably) if I hadn't been slightly annoyed by it and agreed to taking it off. It had NONE of the characteristics of most melanomas. The only thing was that it was a mole changing very rapidly. I probably had it for less than 2 months before the biopsy, where many superficial spreading ones can be there for YEARS and not cause issues.
Tl;dr: If you have a mole that's changing in any way, go see a derm ASAP. if you have a lot of moles, take pictures of your WHOLE body and set an alarm on your phone to check and compare regularly. Get help to see things like your scalp and back.
I'm totally open about everything. My risk factors are being pasty white (ie burning, not tanning), having a lot of miles in general, and family history. My dad has has a billion of the "good" skin cancers (basal cell and squamous cell), and one of his first cousins died of melanoma about 8ish years ago. I'm still a little salty about the fact that he always insisted it came from her dad's side of the family, so not ours, acting like we didn't have to worry as much, but it's impossible to actually know. Another major risk factor is having a bad burn before the age of 18. Just one of those supposedly increases your risk by like 50%.
Like I said, I never tanned, but unfortunately I usually had at least one burn a summer, just because of my fair skin and the places I've lived (lots of high elevation, hot places).
I was also pregnant when I was first diagnosed, which I believe was very much related, although they haven't documented a firm link yet. Melanoma is one of the few cancers that's connected to the immune system (out body can recognize it and fight it), and when you are PG, your immune system is lowered. Anecdotally, I've seen lots of women get mel or have a recurrance during or immediately after pregnancy. That said, I'm still so grateful it happened while I was PG because I don't know if I would have gone to the dr as quickly or at all if I wasn't.
Finally, mine was a weird one. I'm 100% sure it was nodular melanoma, not superficial spreading melanoma like most, based on my research. Even my PCP dismissed it and I would be dead now (years ago probably) if I hadn't been slightly annoyed by it and agreed to taking it off. It had NONE of the characteristics of most melanomas. The only thing was that it was a mole changing very rapidly. I probably had it for less than 2 months before the biopsy, where many superficial spreading ones can be there for YEARS and not cause issues.
Tl;dr: If you have a mole that's changing in any way, go see a derm ASAP. if you have a lot of moles, take pictures of your WHOLE body and set an alarm on your phone to check and compare regularly. Get help to see things like your scalp and back.
I had to look up nodular melanoma.
Well, I am always poring over my skin, and I go to the derm once a year. I also learned yeaaaars ago about ABCD's, and the doctor I talked to said that C doesn't just stand for Color but for Change. Our family doesn't have skin cancer history but colon and... lymphoma, I believe? I often feel like a ticking time bomb between my HBP and high cholesterol and family cancer history. Oh, and we're all depressed and mentally ill as hell, lol. This stuff is just shitty.
Well I drink a glass of oj a day, and while the rest of my fair skinned family got pre cancerous lesions and basal cell, I got SSM. Also happened while pregnant, so plays into immune system theory. Maybe I'll stop drinking oj. Huh.
Post by shanbrite2 on Jun 30, 2015 21:36:27 GMT -5
I'm so sorry kcb. It sounds like this might have been a while ago, but I'll put out my plug for Hope for Two: Pregnant with Cancer just in case it might help you or someone else out there *waves*. They are an awesome org that connects women with others who have been through the same kind of cancer and do their best to match stage, time during pregnancy, etc. it was crazy to me how common cancer during pregnancy actually is because I felt SO alone at first. Even though I only talked with my support woman a couple times, it totally saved my sanity.
Someone on ML who I am close with -- her mom had melanoma from an unidentified source. I'm saying that wrong. It seems her melanoma had originally started somewhere else and spread to become melanoma? But they could never figure out the original source.
Cancer is a very strange disease.
Hugs to you, shanbrite. Continue to kick cancer's filthy ass. I hope you are feeling well.
eta: if you don't mind my asking, what were the risk factors you mention above?
I probably had it for less than 2 months before the biopsy, where many superficial spreading ones can be there for YEARS and not cause issues.
Tl;dr: If you have a mole that's changing in any way, go see a derm ASAP. if you have a lot of moles, take pictures of your WHOLE body and set an alarm on your phone to check and compare regularly. Get help to see things like your scalp and back.
That is really scary. I am high risk (pale, many sunburns, lots of moles that usually come back atypical) and I go to the derm every 6 months. I didn't realize that it could happen so fast. Thanks for that info. I will pay more attention between appointments now. Although, most of my moles are on my back and hard to watch on my own.
I probably had it for less than 2 months before the biopsy, where many superficial spreading ones can be there for YEARS and not cause issues.
Tl;dr: If you have a mole that's changing in any way, go see a derm ASAP. if you have a lot of moles, take pictures of your WHOLE body and set an alarm on your phone to check and compare regularly. Get help to see things like your scalp and back.
That is really scary. I am high risk (pale, many sunburns, lots of moles that usually come back atypical) and I go to the derm every 6 months. I didn't realize that it could happen so fast. Thanks for that info. I will pay more attention between appointments now. Although, most of my moles are on my back and hard to watch on my own.
I don't think it's common to be that fast. I think nodular melanoma is like 10% of all melanomas? But yeah, scary shit. I think a mirror and a cell phone/iPad camera would be really helpful to watch your own back (literally lol). I did monthly checks on my own between appts. My husband helped me, so that was nice, but you'll get to know your own body pretty quickly to see if things are changing.
Another tip that might be helpful, from my awesome derm, is thinking about the "Ugly Duckling" syndrome. Basically, if you see a mole that's not like the others (one of these things just isn't the same... Thanks Sesame Street!), then that's something to be concerned about. MANY of my moles are large, irregularly shaped and colored and otherwise "concerning," but are in reality totally fine. The one that was bad was REALLY dark, almost black, raised (none of my other ones are raised), and just did not fit with all my other moles. Obviously not a perfect method, but something else to keep in mind.