AIM OF THE STUDY: The association between occupational exposure to UV radiation and skin cancer (malignant melanoma, squamous cell cancer, and basal cell cancer) is analyzed on the basis of the data of the Rhineland-Palatinate Cancer Registry. Methods: Male as well as female patients with malignant melanoma of the skin (total n=3.239), squamous (n=5.041) or basal cell carcinoma of the skin (n=20.714), diagnosed between 1998 and 2003 were compared with patients with other malignancies. As a second reference group, male patients with skin cancer were compared with patients with prostate cancer. Patients suffering simultaneously from skin cancer and other malignancies were allocated to the "case group". Age-adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for outdoor occupations (construction workers, wine-growers, farmers, gardeners, and forestry workers) versus white-collar or production workers (excluding outdoor workers) using logistic regression analysis. Histologic melanoma-subtypes were analysed separately. RESULTS: For malignant melanoma, no significantly elevated risks could be found among occupational groups potentially exposed to UV; male patients with malignant melanoma worked more rarely in building professions. In the analysis of histologic melanoma subtypes, superficial spreading melanoma presented lower risks for male construction workers and increased risks for female wine-growers. Female farmers showed an increased risk of lentigo maligna melanoma. Significantly elevated risks of squamous cell cancers of the skin were found among male as well as female farmers and wine-growers and among male construction workers. For basal cell skin cancer, the risk elevations of male gardeners (compared with other malignancies), of male construction workers (compared with prostate cancer) and of female wine-growers were of borderline statistical significance. Female farmers showed a significantly elevated risk of basal cell skin cancer. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In accordance with the literature, the analysis of the Rhineland-Palatinate Cancer Registry data revealed significantly elevated risks of squamous cell cancer of the skin, but not of malignant skin melanoma. The present study allows no reliable conclusions on the occupational risks for individual melanoma sub-types; further research is required in this area. For basal cell skin cancer, we found slightly elevated risks for some UV-exposed occupations. Major limitations of the study lie in the lack of knowledge concerning non-occupational UV-exposure, lack of information on the exact occupational activities and the cumulative amount of occupational UV-exposure and the incompleteness of the occupational data (occupational data was available for only about half of the cancer patients). It should be noted that more than 95% of diagnosed cases of skin cancer are reported to the Rhineland-Palatinate Cancer Registry. Therefore, cancer-registry data might assist data acquisition in analytic epidemiologic studies further clarifying the association between occupational as well as non-occupational risk factors and skin cancer.