Male Pattern Baldness and Risk of Incident Skin Cancer in a Cohort of Men

The document reports on a study examining the association between male pattern baldness and the risk of skin cancer, including melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and basal cell carcinoma (BCC), in a prospective cohort study of 36,032 participants from the Health Professionals' Follow-up Study. The study found that male-pattern baldness at age 45 was not associated with an increased risk of incident melanoma but was significantly associated with an increased risk of both SCC and BCC. Specifically, the highest category of baldness (frontal plus severe vertex baldness) was associated with a 33% increased risk for SCC and a 23% increased risk for BCC, compared with no baldness. The study also found significant associations between frontal plus moderate to severe vertex baldness and the risk of melanoma and SCC at the head and neck, particularly for scalp melanoma and scalp SCC, but not for non-scalp head and neck sites. In conclusion, male pattern baldness was positively associated with an increased risk of skin cancer, particularly for cancers occurring on the scalp.