Study of risk factors for melanoma

Since 1988, individuals affected by melanoma in Southern Sweden has been interviewed and the cohort now consists of 3000 cases. For each case, two controls are randomly selected from the Skåne population registry and matched for sex, age and place of residence. The same questions have been sent also to the controls. These questions concern, among others, past illnesses, medication, exposure to UV light, alcohol, smoking, use of oral contraceptivesion and education. All patients with familial melanoma have been analyzed for a CDKN2A mutation. During 1995-96 blood was collected from all patients, but beyond that they have only blood collected from cases with familiar melanoma, cases aged under 40 and cases with multiple melanoma. The study is still ongoing. Purpose: The aim of the study is to create a cohort of patients with melanoma and controls to study risk factors for the disease.