7 June 2011
Liu R, Gao X, Lu Y, Chen H
Objective: To assess the epidemiologic evidence on melanoma in relation to Parkinson disease (PD) via systematic review and meta-analysis.
Methods: Epidemiologic
studies on melanoma and PD were searched using PubMed, Web of Science,
Scoups, and Embase (1965 through June
2010). Eligible studies were those that reported
risk estimates of melanoma among patients with PD or vice versa. Pooled
odds
ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs)
were calculated using random-effects models.
Results: We identified
12 eligible publications on melanoma and PD: 8 had fewer than 10 cases
with both PD and melanoma, and 7 provided
gender-specific results. The pooled OR was 2.11
(95% CI 1.26–3.54) overall, 2.04 (1.55–2.69) for men, and 1.52
(0.85–2.75)
for women. Analyses by temporal relationship
found that melanoma occurrence was significantly higher after the
diagnosis of
PD (OR 3.61, 95% CI 1.49–8.77), but not before
PD diagnosis (OR 1.07, 95% CI 0.62–1.84). Further analyses revealed that
the
lack of significance in the latter analysis was
due to one study, which when excluded resulted in a significant
association
(OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.06–1.96). We also analyzed
nonmelanoma skin cancers in relation to PD and found no significant
relationship
(OR 1.11, 95% CI 0.94–1.30).
Conclusions: Collective epidemiologic evidence supports an association of PD with melanoma. Further research is needed to examine the
nature and mechanisms of this relationship.
