Orange juice and grapefruit linked to melanoma skin cancer

Conclusion This study aimed to assess the association between psoralens found in citrus fruit and melanoma risk. A link was observed between orange juice, fresh grapefruit and overall citrus consumption, with grapefruit causing the highest level of increased risk. The researchers say this is because there are higher levels of psoralens in grapefruits than other citrus fruits. The strengths of this study are its prospective design, large sample size and long-term follow-up. However, the sample was composed of US health professionals, who may have very different diet and lifestyle habits from most US citizens, which limits the generalisability of the findings. As participants were required to fill out a questionnaire, this may be subject to recall bias. There were also wide confidence intervals, which reduces the certainty of the results, especially given the large number of participants. These findings should be taken with caution as they are unable to prove citrus consumption is the cause of melanoma. Fruit intake is known to have beneficial effects on the prevention of chronic diseases. Further investigation is required to confirm this risk. A positive association was seen for those who had higher sunburn susceptibility as a child, more blistering sunburn episodes, spent more time in direct sunlight, and those with a higher annual UV flux at their home. This may have been the cause of the increased melanoma risk rather than the effect of citrus fruit.  These findings...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Food/diet Source Type: news