Korean Patients With Parkinson Disease May Have a Greater Risk of Skin Cancer

Source: AJMC, April 2020

Korean patients with Parkinson disease (PD) were found to be at greater risk of developing skin cancer, with male and older populations considered higher-risk groups, according to study findings published this week in the Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

Although prior research has indicated that patients with PD (PwP) have a significantly lower risk of cancer, studies have also shown the potential link of the disease with melanoma and prostate cancer. As researchers note, many of the studies reporting prevalence of skin cancers in PwP involve Caucasians, which may complicate findings. This patient population is generally at a much higher risk of developing nonmelanoma or melanoma skin cancers compared with dark-skinned populations.

The study authors sought to investigate the association between PD and skin cancer in underrepresented Asian populations, who also typically have lighter skin pigmentations. The researchers conducted a nationwide population-based study, examining data from 70,780 patients from Korea with newly diagnosed PD between January 2010 and December 2015. PwP were compared with a control group of 353,900 sex and age-matched patients without PD.