New Study Suggests Eating a Lot of Fish Can Increase the Risk of Malignant Melanoma

New Study Suggests Eating a Lot of Fish Can Increase the Risk of Malignant Melanoma
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According to a study published in the journal Cancer Causes and Control, eating high amounts of tuna and other non-friend fish might be associated with a higher risk of developing malignant melanoma and state 0 melanoma.

Associate professor of dermatology and epidemiology from Brown University and author Eunyoung Cho stated explained that “This study is important because it is very large and it is prospective by design, meaning that fish intake was assessed before the development of cancer. Although fish intake has increased in the U.S. and in Europe in recent decades, the results of other previous studies investigating associations between fish consumption and melanoma risk have been inconsistent — our findings have identified an association that requires further investigation.”

The researchers learned that an average fish intake of 42.8 grams per day compared to an average consumption of fish intake of 3.2 grams per day means 22 percent higher risk of malignant melanoma and a 28 percent increased risk of developing stage 0 cancer also known as melanoma in situ, in which abnormal cells can only be found in the most outer layer of one’s skin.

According to the American Cancer Society, melanoma is the fifth most common cancer type in the United States.

As for how they learned this, the study featured nearly half a million adults from the United States, recruiting them for the National Cancer Institute’s NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study between for a full year back in the ’90s (1995-1996.)

The average age of the participants was 62.

The research looked into portion size but also the frequency with which the participants consumed the following type of fish: non-fried fish, fried fish and tuna, in the year prior.

The scientists tracked the incidence of new melanomas over no less than 15 years by using cancer registries.

They also made sure to account for several factors that could have influenced the result including the participants’ smoking history, sociodemographic factors, their family’s cancer history, daily caloric intake, daily alcohol intake, daily intake of caffeine and the average UV radiation levels in each participant’s residence area.

The release mentions that 1 percent of the participants (5,034) developed malignant melanoma while 0.7 percent of them (3,284) developed state 0 melanoma.

They learned that a higher intake of non-fried fish and tuna were linked to a higher risk of developing these two types of cancer.

However, more research is still needed and no changes in fish consumption are recommended for the time being.

This is because the study has quite a few limitations including not accounting for some risk factors such as mole count, hair color and history of behaviors related to being in the sun.


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Katherine is just getting her start as a journalist. She attended a technical school while still in high school where she learned a variety of skills, from photography to nutrition. Her enthusiasm for both natural and human sciences is real so she particularly enjoys covering topics on medicine and the environment.

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