Trajectories of Nevus Development From Age 3 to 16 Years in the Colorado Kids Sun Care Program Cohort.

Importance: Nevi are a risk factor for melanoma and other forms of skin cancer, and many of the same factors confer risk for both. Understanding childhood nevus development may provide clues to possible causes and prevention of melanoma.

Objectives: To describe nevus acquisition from the ages of 3 to 16 years among white youths and evaluate variation by sex, Hispanic ethnicity, and body sites that are chronically vs intermittently exposed to the sun.

Interactions between ultraviolet light and MC1R and OCA2 variants are determinants of childhood nevus and freckle phenotypes.

Background: Melanocytic nevi (moles) and freckles are well known biomarkers of melanoma risk, and they are influenced by similar UV light exposures and genetic susceptibilities to those that increase melanoma risk. Nevertheless, the selective interactions between UV exposures and nevus and freckling genes remain largely undescribed.

Methods: We conducted a longitudinal study from ages 6 through 10 years in 477 Colorado children who had annual information collected for sun exposure, sun protection behaviors, and full body skin exams.

Mailed intervention to promote sun protection of children: a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Sun exposure, especially during childhood, is the most important preventable risk factor for skin cancer, yet few effective interventions to reduce exposure exist.

Purpose: To test the effectiveness of a partially tailored mailed intervention based on the Precaution Adoption Process Model, delivered in the spring over 3 years to parents and children.

Design: RCT, with data collection through telephone interviews of parents and skin exams of children at baseline (Summer 2004) and annually (Summer 2005-2007).

Parents' perceptions of skin cancer threat and children's physical activity.

Introduction: Sun exposure is a major risk factor for skin cancer, but without physical activity, children are at risk of childhood obesity. The objective of this study was to explore relationships between parental perceptions of skin cancer threat, sun protection behaviors, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI) in children.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis nested within the Colorado Kids Sun Care Program sun safety intervention trial.

Sun damage in ultraviolet photographs correlates with phenotypic melanoma risk factors in 12-year-old children.

Background: Ultraviolet (UV) photography has been used to motivate sun safety in behavioral interventions. The relationship between sun damage shown in UV photographs and melanoma risk has not been systematically investigated.

Objective: To examine the relationship between severity of sun damage in UV photographs and phenotypic melanoma risk factors in children.

Effect of hair color and sun sensitivity on nevus counts in white children in Colorado.

Background: It has been widely reported that individuals with a light phenotype (ie, light hair color, light base skin color, and propensity to burn) have more nevi and are at greater risk for developing skin cancer. No studies have systematically investigated how phenotypic traits may interact in relation to nevus development.

Objective: We sought to systematically examine whether any combinations of phenotype are associated with a greater or lesser risk for nevus development in white children.

Tanning and increased nevus development in very-light-skinned children without red hair.

Objective: To examine the relationship between tanning and nevus development in very-light-skinned children.

Design: Prospective cohort nested within a randomized controlled trial. Skin examinations in 3 consecutive years (2004, 2005, and 2006) included full-body counts of nevi, skin color and tanning measurement using colorimetry, and hair and eye color evaluation by comparison with charts.

Melanocytic nevus development in Colorado children born in 1998: a longitudinal study.

Objective: To describe the development of nevi from 3 to 8 years of age in a birth cohort of children in Colorado.

Design: Longitudinal observational study.

Setting: Large managed care organization and university and private primary care practices.

Vacations to waterside locations result in nevus development in Colorado children.

Nevi are a main risk factor for malignant melanoma, and most nevi develop in childhood. This study examined the relationship between vacations and nevi in 681 White children born in 1998 who were lifetime residents of Colorado. Vacation histories were assessed through telephone interviews of parents, whereas nevus and phenotypic characteristics were assessed through skin exams at age 7.

Melanocytic nevi and sun exposure in a cohort of colorado children: anatomic distribution and site-specific sunburn.

Sun exposure and high prevalence of melanocytic nevi are major risk factors for melanoma, but the relationship between them is not well understood. This study examines the relationship between sun exposure (detailed by anatomic location and history of site-specific sunburns) and the presence of melanocytic nevi on 743 White children in Denver, Colorado. Parental reports of site-specific sunburns were collected annually for 2 years starting at ages 5 to 6 years.

A randomized intervention study of sun protection promotion in well-child care.

Background: This study evaluated the behavioral impact of a skin cancer prevention program in which health care providers delivered advice and materials to parents of infants over a 3-year period from 1998 to 2001.

Methods: Fourteen offices of a large managed care organization in Colorado were randomly assigned to the intervention or control groups. 728 infants and their parents were recruited within 6 months of birth.

Is high mole count a marker of more than melanoma risk? Eczema diagnosis is associated with melanocytic nevi in children.

Background: The number of melanocytic nevi is the best single marker of increased melanoma risk. In a previous study, adults with severe eczema were reported to have significantly fewer nevi than adults without eczema.

Observations: In a nested case-control design within a randomized, controlled interventional trial of additional sun protection vs standard care in 269 children, a history of eczema was reported by the parents of 44 (16%) of the children.