Reproductive factors and melanoma of the skin among women.

A higher risk of reproductive system disorders, (which include benign tumors, endometriosis, dilation and curettage, hysterectomy, and other disorders requiring gynecologic biopsies) exist among women with cutaneous melanoma as compared to women with skin cancers: The odds ratio (OR) is 3.2, 95% confidence limits (1.0, 10.1), p = 0.049; as compared to a random sample of women with no melanoma or skin cancers, the OR is 3.9, 95% confidence limits (1.2, 12.4), p = 0.021. Confirming the observations of others, the authors found that melanoma was associated with red hair. The data also confirmed the finding that melanoma is associated with significantly fewer pregnancies. The mean numbers of pregnancies in the melanoma group is 1.83 +/- 1.6 (mean and standard deviation) compared to 2.99 +/- 1.9 in the skin cancer group and 2.93 +/- 1.9 in the random sample (p less than or equal to 0.05).