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

August 2016 in “ International Journal of Cancer ”

Wen Qing Li, Eunyoung Cho, Jiali Han, Martin A. Weinstock, Abrar A. Qureshi

male pattern baldness squamous cell carcinoma basal cell carcinoma melanoma scalp protection UV flux head and neck melanoma SCC BCC skin cancer sun exposure

TLDR Men with male pattern baldness have a higher risk of certain skin cancers, especially on the scalp.

In a study of 36,032 men, researchers found that male pattern baldness was not significantly associated with an increased risk of melanoma but was significantly associated with higher risks of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). The highest category of baldness was linked to a hazard ratio (HR) of 1.33 for SCC and 1.23 for BCC. The risk was particularly high for cancers on the scalp, with HRs of 7.15 for melanoma and 7.09 for SCC. Severe baldness also showed a higher risk of head and neck melanoma (HR=1.83) and SCC (HR=1.30), with stronger associations in those with higher adult life UV flux. The study suggests that male pattern baldness may be a marker for increased risk of certain skin cancers, especially on the head and neck, and highlights the importance of scalp protection from sun exposure for balding men.

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