Background: Although a rare disease, uveal melanoma (UM) is the most common malignant intraocular tumor among adults. Besides some risk indicators like age, light iris color and light skin, most of its risk factors are weakly or inconsistently associated with uveal melanoma. However, few analytical studies have been focused on the association between uveal melanoma and family cancer histories. Methods: The present study is an incident case-control study focusing on the association between uveal melanoma and family/own cancer history. A total of 455 cases and 827 population controls were recruited, matching on age, sex and region of residence. The family/own cancer histories were collected through computer assisted telephone interviews. Odds ratios were estimated by conditional logistic regression models accounting for the matching factors. Results: An increased UM risk was found among female participants having suffered any prior cancer (OR=1.9; 95% CI: 1.1-3.2), among participants younger than 60 years with any prior cancer (OR=2.3; 95% CI: 1.1-4.8), among participants with a family history of breast cancer (OR=1.3; 95% CI: 0.8-2.1), among participants with a family history of prostate cancer (OR=1.8; 95% CI: 0.9-3.6). A family history of any BRCA2-related cancer was observed to be positively associated with the risk of uveal melanoma, specifically among males only (OR=2.2.; 95% CI: 1.3-3.7). |