The recovery from ultraviolet radiation—induced erythema and melanoma risk factors: A case-control study

The proportion of subjects recovering from skin erythema induced by a single ultraviolet radiation challenge of 6 times the minimal erythema dose during a 3-week period was lower in 47 patients with stage I cutaneous melanoma than in 48 healthy control subjects with similar risk factors of increased sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation (p = 0.045). This difference indicates that the patients with melanoma were more susceptible to prolonged ultraviolet radiation—induced skin damage than the control subjects. Prolonged erythema response was significantly associated in the melanoma group with decreased minimal erythema doses (odds ratio [OR] = 11.3) and with the presence of freckles (OR = 5.5), and was associated in the control group with light eye color (OR =5.8). Prolonged ultraviolet radiation-induced erythema is neither a unique feature of melanoma patients nor a useful marker for identifying risk groups for cutaneous melanoma.