Red and processed meat consumption has been associated with increased risk of several cancers, but association with cutaneous melanoma risk has been inconclusive.

To investigate the association between red and processed meat intake and melanoma risk.

Dietary information was assessed using food frequency questionnaires in two prospective cohorts - 75,263 women from the Nurses' Health Study (1984 - 2010) and 48,523 men from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1986 - 2010). Melanoma cases were confirmed by review of pathological records. Pooled multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models.

A total of 679 female and 639 male melanoma cases were documented during follow-up. Red and processed meat intake was inversely associated with melanoma risk (P for trend = 0.002); the pooled HRs (95% CIs) of the two cohorts were 1.00 (reference), 1.00 (0.87 - 1.14), 0.98 (0.86 - 1.13), 0.89 (0.77 - 1.02), and 0.81 (0.70 - 0.95) for increasing quintiles of intake.

Findings may have limited generalizability, as the cohorts were limited to white health professionals.

Red and processed meat intake was inversely associated with melanoma risk in these two cohorts.