Incidence and metastasis of cutaneous malignant melanoma with respect to ABO blood groups: a case-controlled study in northeast of China.

BACKGROUND

ABO blood groups have been suggested to contribute to the development of certain tumors; however, the associations between ABO blood groups and the incidence and metastases of cutaneous malignant melanomas have not been fully evaluated in Chinese populations. Thus, we investigated these associations with a case-controlled study in northeast of China.

METHODS

A total of 482 patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma and 3,068 healthy- controls were enrolled for the study between 2001 and 2012 at The Tumor Hospital of Harbin Medical University. A multivariate logistic model was used to evaluate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the incidence and metastases of cutaneous malignant melanoma.

RESULTS

Blood type A individuals had higher tumor incidence and metastasis compared to those with blood type O (OR = 1.575; 95% CI = 1.208-2.053, p = 0.001; OR = 2.004; 95% CI = 1.032-3.889, p = 0.040), after adjusting for age, gender, smoking status and alcohol consumption.

CONCLUSIONS

Blood type A was associated with higher incidence and metastasis of cutaneous malignant melanoma but future studies are needed to examine the mechanisms linking cutaneous malignant melanoma to ABO blood types.