Melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer in children and young adults

Co-Principal Investigators:

Jen Huang, MD
Harvard Medical School

Larry Eichenfield, MD
UCSD

Overview:

This study is a collaboration of 10 major hospitals across the country with the unified goal of improving our understanding of skin cancer in children.  It is a multi-center retrospective case controlled study of all children < 20 years of age with the diagnosis of melanoma or nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) over a 20 year period from 1995 to 2015.  We aimed to characterize the clinical and histopathologic features of melanoma and NMSC in children and to identify risk factors associated with development of these skin cancers, including exposure to chemotherapeutic agents, radiation therapy, immunosuppressive medications, and photosensitizing agents. 

The major goal of the study is to understand what risk factors are associated with development of melanoma and NMSC in children and young adults.  There have been no prior studies addressing this question.  By achieving our study goal, we hope to improve guidelines for skin cancer screening for children.

Status:

One publication in print – Huang, et al., 2019; (see publications page). Analysis is underway for additional publications.

This project received a 2019 PeDRA Study Support Grant to fund a biostatistician at Boston Children’s Hospital to assist in the final stages of data analysis and provide support as abstracts and manuscripts are prepared.