Background: Many observational studies have assessed the possible association between occupational cookingand uveal melanoma risk, but reported results are controversial. Our goal was to evaluate the association betweenoccupational cooking and uveal melanoma risk by conducting a meta-analysis of observational studies. Methods:PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched through June 2012 to identify all eligible studies. Thepooled odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was used to evaluate this association. Either afixed- or a random-effects model were used to calculate pooled ORs. Results: Five case-control studies involvinga total of 1,199 cases and 6,927 controls were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, occupational cooking wasassociated with an increased risk of uveal melanoma (OR: 1.81, 95%CI 1.33-2.46, P < 0.001). Subgroup analysisby gender suggested occupational cooking was associated with increased risk of uveal melanoma in both men(OR: 2.16, 95%CI 1.06-4.40, P = 0.034) and women (OR: 1.92, 95%CI 1.19-3.10, P = 0.008). Conclusion: Thismeta-analysis suggests that occupational cooking is associated with an increased risk of uveal melanoma in bothmen and women.
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