Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Sep 2;34(9):1663-1668.
doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-25-0301.

Night Shift Work and Risk of Melanoma: A Prospective Cohort Study among 59,384 Female Nurses in the Netherlands

Linske de Bruijn  1 , Henriëtte M van Duijne  1 , Roel C H Vermeulen  2 , Jelle J Vlaanderen  2 , Hans Kromhout  2 , Katarzyna Jóźwiak  3 , Flora E van Leeuwen  1 , Nina E Berentzen  1 , Michael Schaapveld  1
Affiliations

Night Shift Work and Risk of Melanoma: A Prospective Cohort Study among 59,384 Female Nurses in the Netherlands

Linske de Bruijn et al. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. .

Abstract

Background: Night shift work may be a risk factor for melanoma, potentially due to suppressed melatonin and decreased vitamin D levels. We examine the potential association between night shift work and melanoma risk using detailed, lifetime information on night shift work in a large cohort of Dutch nurses.

Methods: We used questionnaire data from the Nightingale Study obtained from 59,384 (former) female nurses ages 19 to 65 years (median: 48.7; IQR: 39.6-55.3). HRs and 95% confidence intervals for melanoma risk in relation to various lifetime night shift work exposure variables were estimated.

Results: During 10 years of follow-up, 307 women developed melanoma. Melanoma risk did not differ between women who worked night shifts and those who never worked night shifts (age-adjusted HR = 0.98; 95% confidence interval, 0.73-1.30). No statistically significantly increased risks were found for a longer night shift work duration, a higher cumulative number of nights worked, a higher number of consecutive nights worked per month, or a shorter time since quitting night shift work.

Conclusions: We found no association between night shift work exposure and melanoma risk.

Impact: This study should reassure nurses that working night shifts is not associated with an increased risk of melanoma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Haus EL, Smolensky MH. Shift work and cancer risk: potential mechanistic roles of circadian disruption, light at night, and sleep deprivation. Sleep medicine reviews. 2013;17(4):273–284. - PubMed
    1. Kohl IS, Garcez A, Silva JCD, Arruda HCD, Canuto R, Paniz VMV, et al. Association Between Shift Work and Vitamin D Levels in Brazilian Female Workers. Nutrients. 2025;17(7):1201. doi: 10.3390/nu17071201. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yousef E, Mitwally N, Noufal N, Tahir MR. Shift work and risk of skin cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Scientific reports. 2020;10(1):2012. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-59035-x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pijpe A, Slottje P, van Pelt C, Stehmann F, Kromhout H, van Leeuwen FE, et al. The Nightingale study: rationale, study design and baseline characteristics of a prospective cohort study on shift work and breast cancer risk among nurses. BMC cancer. 2014;14(1):1–13. doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-14-47. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carpenter JR, Bartlett JW, Morris TP, Wood AM, Quartagno M, Kenward MG. Multiple imputation and its application. 2nd edition. John Wiley & Sons; 2023. pp. 133–200.

LinkOut - more resources