Scientists from Brown University found that eating higher levels of fish, including tuna and non-fried fish, appears to be associated with a greater risk of malignant melanoma.
The research is published in Cancer Causes & Control and was conducted by Eunyoung Cho et al.
Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the U.S.
Although fish intake has increased in the U.S. and Europe in recent decades, the results of previous studies investigating associations between fish intake and melanoma risk have been inconsistent.
In the study, the team analyzed data collected from 491,367 adults who were recruited from across the U.S. to the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study between 1995 and 1996.
Participants, who were aged 62 years on average, reported how frequently they ate fried fish, non-fried fish, and tuna during the previous year as well as their portion sizes.
They compared to those whose daily fish intake was 3.2 grams, the risk of malignant melanoma was 22% higher among those whose daily intake was 42.8 grams.
They also found that those whose daily intake was 42.8 grams of fish had a 28% increased risk of developing abnormal cells in the outer layer of the skin only—known as stage 0 melanoma or melanoma in situ—compared to those whose median daily intake was 3.2 grams of fish.
A portion of fish is approximately 140 grams of cooked fish.
These findings suggest that higher intake of non-fried fish and tuna was associated with increased risks of malignant melanoma and stage 0 melanoma.
The researchers speculate that our findings could possibly be attributed to contaminants in fish, such as polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, arsenic and mercury.
Previous research has found that higher fish intake is associated with higher levels of these contaminants within the body and has identified associations between these contaminants and a higher risk of skin cancer.
The authors suggest that future research is needed to see the components of fish that could contribute to the association between fish intake and melanoma risk.
At present, they do not recommend any changes to fish consumption.
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