A new study backed up past evidence suggesting Vietnam War veterans who had been exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange had a higher risk of developing melanotic invasive skin cancer (NMISC).
Agent Orange was used during the Vietnam War as an "herbicide and jungle defoliant"; exposure to the toxic dioxin contaminant (TCDD) in the substance has been linked to a number of diseases and cancers, a Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins news release reported.
"TCDD is among the most carcinogenic compounds ever to undergo widespread use in the environment," the authors wrote, the news release reported.
Veterans Affairs recognizes certain health problems (including specific cancers) related to dioxin exposure, but skin cancer is currently not included on that list.
The researchers looked at 100 men who were enrolled in the Agent Orange registry who had lighter skin types.
"Exposure to TCDD consisted of living or working in contaminated areas for 56 percent of veterans, actively spraying Agent Orange in 30 percent, and traveling in contaminated areas for 14 percent," the news release reported.
The team saw cases of NMISC in 51 percent of the study participants; which is twice as high as the general population of men in the same age group. In the men who had actively sprayed Agent Orange the cases rose to 73 percent. The men with the lightest skin and eye color were found to have the highest risk of developing NMISC.
Forty-three percent of the study subjects suffered from chloracne, which is a skin condition directly linked to dioxins; 80 percent of these men developed NMISC.
A number of cases of "unusually aggressive" NMISC were observed in the study population, many of which required multiple surgeries.
The link between dioxin exposure and basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma (the two most common forms of skin cancer) has not yet been proven.
"Further studies are warranted to determine the relative risk within this patient population and to determine appropriate management strategies so that veterans may receive the care they earned in service," ASPS Member Surgeon Doctor Mark W. Clemens of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center said in the news release.
