Possible side effects: Study finds possible link between impotence drugs and melanoma. Photo: Supplied
Men who use impotence drugs such as Viagra could be at risk of developing skin cancer, a US study indicates. The research raises questions about the safety of such medications, particularly among men who are already at risk of melanoma because of fair skin or regular sunburn.
The concern is that they may have the potentially deadly side-effect of increasing melanoma risk because of the way the drugs work, the study, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, says.
The drugs block an enzyme known as PDE5, helping relax the smooth muscle cells in the penis and causing an erection.
However, this same enzyme has been implicated in the metastasis of melanoma cells and has been found to be a target of melanoma drugs, leading the study’s authors to look for any link between the two in patients.