SummaryCutaneous malignant melanoma remains a major public health burden, with markedly reduced survival in advanced stages despite recent therapeutic advances. While several studies have reported associations between obesity and melanoma risk, findings remain inconsistent. Most previous studies have relied on body mass index (BMI), which inadequately reflects body composition and fat distribution. Emerging evidence suggests that visceral adipose tissue (VAT), rather than obesity per se, may represent the biologically relevant driver linking adiposity to melanoma development. Consequently, anthropometric markers reflecting visceral adiposity may provide more biologically relevant measures for melanoma risk assessment than BMI alone. Using anthropometric, metabolic, lifestyle, and imaging-derived body composition data from the NAKO cohort linked with cancer registry information, this project aims to evaluate whether anthropometric markers of visceral adiposity, particularly waist-to-hip ratio, are independently associated with melanoma incidence and stage at diagnosis. Waist-to-hip ratio represents a potentially more informative and clinically accessible measure of adiposity than BMI, as it can be obtained relatively easily in routine clinical settings while better capturing fat distribution and related metabolic alterations. Additional analyses will compare different anthropometric measures regarding their correlation with VAT and investigate potential sex- and age-specific effects. This study may improve the understanding of the role of visceral adiposity in melanoma development and help identify high-risk populations relevant for targeted prevention as well as refinement of screening strategies.

Keywords Anthropometry cancer-risk melanoma visceral-adipose-tissue-VAT waist-to-hip

InstitutionsUniversitätsmedizin Greifswald, Universitätsklinikum Regensburg