Melanoma and Prostate Cancer or Melanoma and ED meds. Any link?

[PopCubby]

Does anyone have information to suggest that there is a link between either having prostate cancer and developing melanoma or using ED meds and developing melanoma?

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer 4 years ago. I was on Active Surveillance for three years , but then required treatment last year. I opted for HDR brachytherapy. So far, so good. My first PSA level after treatment was 0.75.

At the same time I received my biopsy results which showed that I needed treatment for Prostate cancer, I noticed a brown spot on my face, which turned out to be a melanoma. Fortunately, it was caught early enough that it was removed and there was no indication that it had spread.

I have read that there is a high incidence of melanoma in men with Prostate cancer, and I have two friends who have Prostate cancer who also developed melanomas.

I have also read that there is evidence that there is a link between developing melanoma if you use ED meds. I have used Viagra for several years to treat my ED. There have been several court cases brought against Pfizer and Lilly, the makers of Viagra and Cialis, but I don't think any have been successful in proving that there is a link.

Does anyone have any more information on this?

[BerkshireBear]

I'm always concerned when messages make references to "I have read..." What you have read might be fine, but there's so much speculative and flat-out wrong stuff published on the internet that all such linkages are met with a strong dose of doubt. That said, I have had an on-going discussion with my oncologist because while I started with prostate cancer 17 years ago I've also had Lymphoma and Melanoma and several other skin cancers. My question is "am I prone (predisposed) to having cancers?" He feels there are likely some genetic factors that may make some individuals have more cancers, Research may identify the mechanisms and eventually lead to preventative measures. I have been told by two dermatologists and had confirmed by my oncologist that there is a clear increase in skin cancers for people who have had Lymphoma and related cancers. I find statistical studies that support their comment, but I have yet to find research identifying the processes and pointing toward disrupting the connexion.

[Tall_Allen]

It's just an association, but these authors propose a mechanism:

ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/jc...

[lewicki]

I have had melanoma removed twice plus other skin cancers. A doctor at Karmanos said it was curios that my Pca resembled melanoma under the microscope. Maybe something here. Parents were from NE europe. Had a sister die of Melanoma at age of 32 .

[kapakahi]

Interesting. I was very light blond-haired and fair-skinnged; had rather severe acne as a teen; in my 20s-30s I developed a varicocele in one testicle that strangled it, lowering my T level drastically, which wasn't diagnosed till about 2000, when my doctor put me on a topical T cream. By then I'd been surfing in Hawai`i for 30+ years, before sunscreens were invented.

In 2008 I was diagnosed with PC, and in 2011 with melanoma, then two more melanomas in 2015. And a great many basal cell carcinomas and actinic keratoses over decades -- my skin is a mess, it's like tissue paper, and it bleeds and bruises if I look too hard at it. None of these cancers have ever metastacized.

It's pretty certain that sun damage and melanoma are like cause-and-effect; it would be hard to say in my case that PC and melanoma are anything more than an association, but I know many blond surfers who never got either PC or melanoma. And one surfer friend, dark-haired and darker-skinned, died from melanoma at age 33, less than two years after he was diagnosed.

[j-o-h-n]

I just sent you a private message regarding Melanomas and Pca.....I have Advanced Pca (stage IV). If you wish more info I can call you or you can call me....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Saturday 07/02/2022 2:00 PM DST

[Hidden]

I've had a number of cancerous skin lesions (not melanomas) that were treated years before I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I use sunblock year round. I've lived in the Phoenix area for 40+ years.