WEDNESDAY, Feb. 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Among veterans, risk factors for acral melanoma (AM) include Agent Orange exposure (AOE), according to a study published online Feb. 4 in JAMA Dermatology.

Jonathan C. Hwang, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and colleagues conducted a nested case-control study to identify AM risk factors among U.S. veterans. Individuals with AM were identified using the Veterans Affairs Cancer Registry; each AM case was matched to four nonacral cutaneous melanoma (CM) controls and four controls with no melanoma diagnosis.

A total of 1,292 individuals with AM were matched to 5,168 controls without melanoma, and 1,286 individuals with AM were matched to 5,144 CM controls. The researchers found that AOE was significantly associated with higher odds of AM when compared with CM and controls without melanoma (adjusted odds ratios, 1.31 and 1.27, respectively). Current smoking was associated with lower odds of AM compared with CM and controls without melanoma (adjusted odds ratios, 0.65 and 0.50, respectively). Prior keratinocyte carcinoma and actinic keratosis were associated with higher odds compared with controls without melanoma and with lower odds compared with CM controls. Higher odds of AM were seen in association with prior nevus when compared with controls without melanoma.

"Our results support the need for continued investigation of AM as a distinct entity from CM and may inform future evaluations of the associations between AOE in veteran populations, as well as those between other environmental exposures in different populations," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical and information technology industries.

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