Sun Q, Sun H, Cong L, et al. - In view of inconsistent epidemiological findings concerning the effects of hormones on melanoma risk, researchers carried out a meta-analysis investigating the correlation between exogenous hormonal and reproductive factors and the risk of melanoma in women. Searching PubMed, Web of Science, and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database through April 2020, 38 studies were identified that met the analytical criteria, involving 3,571,910 participants. The results suggested a possible correlation of long-term use of oral contraceptives (OC) with increased risk of melanoma in women. The likelihood of developing melanoma was higher among women who first used OC 15– 19 years previously, while the years since the last use and the age at first use did not link with the development of melanoma in women. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) raised the incidence of melanoma in women and was particularly linked with an increased risk of superficial spreading melanoma (SSM), and estrogen and estradiol appeared to be the main active agents contributing to the elevated risk of melanoma, however, these results may be due to a combination of sun exposure factors. With regard to reproductive factors, females with decreased parity and with age ≥ 20 years at first birth may be at an elevated risk of melanoma, while there appeared no correlation of menopausal status and age at menarche with the incidence of melanoma in females.