Abstract
Objective: To assess the risk of skin cancer in persons treated with neonatal phototherapy (NNPT) for jaundice.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Setting: Grampian Region, Scotland, UK.
Data source: Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal Databank. NNPT exposure was abstracted from paper records spanning 1976-1990. Follow-up to 31 December 2006 by linkage to cancer registration and mortality records.
Main outcome measures: Indcidence ratios, standardised for age, sex, calendar period and socioeconomic position.
Results: After excluding neonatal deaths (n-435), the cohort comprised 77,518 persons. 5868 received NNPT, providing 138,000 person-years at risk (median follow-up, 24 years). Two cases of meanoma occured in persons exposed to NNPT versus 16 cases in unexposed persons, yielding a stadardised incidence ratio of 1.40 (95% CI, 0.17 to 5.04; p=0.834). No cases of squamous cell or basal cell carcinoma were observed in exposed persons.
Conclusions: Although there is no statistically significant evidence of an excess risk of skin cancer following NNPT, evidence available so far does not suggest a major cause for concern.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Setting: Grampian Region, Scotland, UK.
Data source: Aberdeen Maternity and Neonatal Databank. NNPT exposure was abstracted from paper records spanning 1976-1990. Follow-up to 31 December 2006 by linkage to cancer registration and mortality records.
Main outcome measures: Indcidence ratios, standardised for age, sex, calendar period and socioeconomic position.
Results: After excluding neonatal deaths (n-435), the cohort comprised 77,518 persons. 5868 received NNPT, providing 138,000 person-years at risk (median follow-up, 24 years). Two cases of meanoma occured in persons exposed to NNPT versus 16 cases in unexposed persons, yielding a stadardised incidence ratio of 1.40 (95% CI, 0.17 to 5.04; p=0.834). No cases of squamous cell or basal cell carcinoma were observed in exposed persons.
Conclusions: Although there is no statistically significant evidence of an excess risk of skin cancer following NNPT, evidence available so far does not suggest a major cause for concern.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 826-831 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Archives of Disease in Childhood |
| Volume | 95 |
| Issue number | 10 |
| Early online date | 23 Jun 2010 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2010 |
Access to Document
- 2009 179275 brewster revised marked
Brewster, DH, Tucker, JS, Fleming, M, Morris, C, Stockton, DL, Lloyd, DJ, Bhattacharya, S & Chalmers, JWT 2010, 'Risk of skin cancer after neonatal phototherapy: Retrospective cohort study', Archives of Disease in Childhood, vol 95, no. 10, pp. 826-831. DOI 10.1136/adc.2009.179275 Copyright © 2010 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd & Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health