High prevalence of skin cancer in World War II servicemen stationed in the Pacific theater.

Abstract

A large proportion of our World War II patients with skin cancer had been stationed in the Pacific. Our purpose was to determine whether a statistically greater number of World War II servicemen with skin cancer were stationed in the Pacific than the number stationed in Europe. In a consecutive survey of 370 World War II servicemen with skin cancer who were stationed abroad, place of service, skin cancer types, skin type, ethnic background, and estimated average hours outdoors per day during their lifetime were determined. The number of veterans stationed in the Pacific and the number stationed in Europe with respect to these data were analyzed with the chi-square test. A statistically significantly greater number of Pacific veterans than Europe veterans had basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas. A few months to a few years of prolonged sun exposure in a high-sun-intensity area may result in skin cancer development many years after exposure.