Parkinson's linked to prostate cancer

SALT LAKE CITY, April 8 (UPI) -- Parkinson's disease is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer and melanoma, University of Utah School of Medicine researchers suggest.

Study co-author Dr. Stefan-M. Pulst, a professor at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, says most studies demonstrate people with Parkinson's disease have an overall decreased rate of cancer except for melanoma -- the most serious form of skin cancer.

"Using the Utah Population Database -- data for more than 2.2 million individuals some going back 15 generations -- we were able to explore the association of Parkinson's disease with different types of cancer by studying cancer risk in individuals with Parkinson's disease, as well as their close and distant relatives," he said in a statement.

Pulst and colleagues, Dr. Seth A. Kareus and Karla P. Figueroa, identified nearly 3,000 individuals with at least three generations of genealogical data who had Parkinson's disease listed as their cause of death.

The researchers found the risk of prostate cancer and melanoma within this Parkinson's disease population was significantly higher than expected and there was increased risk of prostate cancer and melanoma among first- second- and third-degree relatives of those with Parkinson's disease -- although the excess risk for melanoma in third-degree relatives did not reach statistical significance.

The findings are being presented at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting in Honolulu.