Parkinson's Melanoma Link

Parkinson's Disease Patients May Have Twofold Higher Melanoma Risk.

Reuters (6/6, Grens) reported that patients with Parkinson's disease have twice the risk for developing melanoma, according to the results of meta-analysis published in the June 7 issue of the journal Neurology. Reuters quoted lead researcher Dr. Honglei Chen from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences as saying, "It's prudent for Parkinson's patients to be more cautious about their skin health." The NIEHS supported the study.

        HealthDay (6/6, Reinberg) reported that the researchers reviewed "12 epidemiologic studies dating from 1965 through 2010." Although most of the studies "reported fewer than 10 cases where both conditions occurred," the study team found that "men with Parkinson's disease were twice as likely to develop melanoma as men without Parkinson's disease," while for women, the melanoma risk was 1.5 times "greater if they had Parkinson's" than those without the neurological disorder. Considering that both conditions "are relatively rare, the odds of having Parkinson's disease and melanoma are only about four percent," the authors concluded. WebMD (6/6, Mann) also covered the study.

        According to MSNBC (6/7, Golen), the researchers noted that the melanoma link was "bidirectional," as it was more "common in patients both before and after the onset of Parkinson's. .... 'It is unlikely that one disease has caused the other, but there is shared risk factors for both,'" said the study's lead author. These factors could be "environmental or genetic," he added.

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