Rotating Night Shifts and Risk of Skin Cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study

Working 10 years or more on rotating night shifts is associated with a 14% decreased risk of skin cancer compared to never working night shifts.

• Among 68,336 women in the Nurses' Health Study, 10,799 incident skin cancers were documented from June 1988 to June 2006.
• The age-standardized incidence rate of skin cancer for night shift workers was 976 per 100,000 person-years compared to 1070 per 100,000 person-years for non-night shift workers.
• The association between night shift work and skin cancer was adjusted for confounding variables, including phenotypic and established skin cancer risk factors.
• The strongest association observed was for cutaneous melanoma, with a 44% decreased risk linked to working 10 years or more on rotating night shifts.
• Darker-haired women exhibited the lowest risk of skin cancer, indicating that hair color may modify the relationship between night shift work and skin cancer risk.

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