Background

Psoralen, a compound in citrus fruits, may increase the skin’s sensitivity to light and thereby the risk of melanoma, a type of skin cancer.

The study

This cohort study assessed the associations between melanoma risk and the intake of citrus fruits.

The ≈500,000 participants in the UK Biobank cohort[1] completed 24-hour food recalls evaluating the frequency and type of citrus intake (clementines, grapefruits, mandarines, oranges, satsumas, grapefruit juice, and orange juice).

The authors used national registries to assess melanoma cases. Out of 198,964 people, 1,592 developed skin cancer.

The results

The odds of melanoma were 63% higher in people consuming more than 2 daily servings of citrus products than in people not consuming any.

Oranges and orange juice were the only individual citrus products associated with a higher risk of melanoma: the odds of melanoma were higher in people consuming more than one daily serving of oranges (+79%) or orange juice (+54%).

There was a linear association between citrus consumption and melanoma risk in people with fair or very fair skin: those consuming more than 2 daily servings had 75% higher odds of developing melanoma.

The odds of melanoma were 52% lower in people with “olive” skin consuming 0–0.5 daily servings of citrus products than in those not consuming any.

Note

Other studies assessing the association between melanoma and citrus fruits had mixed results. Some cohort studies found a linear association,[2][3] while others found no association.[4][5]

Moreover, it is unclear at present which compounds in citrus fruits would be responsible for a reduction in the odds of melanoma, though a mouse study attributed a chemopreventive effect to the bioflavonoid hesperidin.[6]

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This Study Summary was published on July 2, 2021.

References

  1. ^Cathie Sudlow, John Gallacher, Naomi Allen, Valerie Beral, Paul Burton, John Danesh, Paul Downey, Paul Elliott, Jane Green, Martin Landray, Bette Liu, Paul Matthews, Giok Ong, Jill Pell, Alan Silman, Alan Young, Tim Sprosen, Tim Peakman, Rory CollinsUK biobank: an open access resource for identifying the causes of a wide range of complex diseases of middle and old agePLoS Med.(2015 Mar 31)
  2. ^Yahya Mahamat-Saleh, Iris Cervenka, Marie Al-Rahmoun, Francesca R Mancini, Gianluca Severi, Reza Ghiasvand, Marit B Veierod, Saverio Caini, Domenico Palli, Edoardo Botteri, Carlotta Sacerdote, Fulvio Ricceri, Antonia Trichopoulou, Eleni Peppa, Carlo La Vecchia, Kim Overvad, Christina C Dahm, Anja Olsen, Anne Tjønneland, Aurora Perez-Cornago, Paula Jakszyn, Sara Grioni, Matthias B Schulze, Guri Skeie, Cristina Lasheras, Sandra Colorado-Yohar, Miguel Rodríguez-Barranco, Tilman Kühn, Verena A Katzke, Pilar Amiano, Rosario Tumino, Salvatore Panico, Ana Ezponda, Emily Sonestedt, Augustin Scalbert, Elisabete Weiderpass, Marie-Christine Boutron-Ruault, Marina KvaskoffCitrus intake and risk of skin cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort (EPIC)Eur J Epidemiol.(2020 Nov)
  3. ^Shaowei Wu, Jiali Han, Diane Feskanich, Eunyoung Cho, Meir J Stampfer, Walter C Willett, Abrar A QureshiCitrus Consumption and Risk of Cutaneous Malignant MelanomaJ Clin Oncol.(2015 Aug 10)
  4. ^Melissa M Melough, Junichi Sakaki, Linda M Liao, Rashmi Sinha, Eunyoung Cho, Ock K ChunAssociation between Citrus Consumption and Melanoma Risk in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health StudyNutr Cancer.(2020 Aug 13)
  5. ^Melissa M Melough, Shaowei Wu, Wen-Qing Li, Charles Eaton, Hongmei Nan, Linda Snetselaar, Robert Wallace, Abrar A Qureshi, Ock K Chun, Eunyoung ChoCitrus Consumption and Risk of Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma in the Women's Health InitiativeNutr Cancer.(2020)
  6. ^Mathipi Vabeiryureilai, Khawlhring Lalrinzuali, Ganesh Chandra JagetiaChemopreventive effect of hesperidin, a citrus bioflavonoid in two stage skin carcinogenesis in Swiss albino miceHeliyon.(2019 Nov 1)