Is there a Viagra-Melanoma Link?

Miami, FLWith some medications and their side effects, the link is clear: the side effect is caused by the medication. But the relationship between some medications and their supposed adverse effects is far less clear. Maybe the side effect is caused by the very factors the medication is treating. Maybe the people who take the medication also have lifestyle factors in common that make them more susceptible to a condition. Maybe the two aren’t related at all. This is one of the problems facing researchers looking into a Viagra skin cancer link.

According to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine (6/14), men who take sildenafil (the generic version of Viagra) are 84 percent more likely to develop melanoma over the next 10 years than men who do not take it. Researchers concluded that there may be an association between taking sildenafil and developing skin cancer, but more research needed to be done.

This is because researchers can’t prove sildenafil causes skin cancer. There could easily be other factors at play, leading men who use sildenafil to also be at a higher risk of skin cancer. Maybe, for example, men who take sildenafil are less likely to use sunblock when outside. Maybe they are already in a high-risk category for skin cancer, even without taking sildenafil. That’s why researchers recommend more studies be done.

That said, there is a theory as to why sildenafil could potentially be linked to skin cancer: that Viagra could affect pathways between cells, allowing melanoma to spread. That theory, however, hasn’t been proven.

Some patients and their families aren’t waiting for more studies to confirm their suspicions. They’ve filed lawsuits alleging Viagra is linked to an increased risk of melanoma, and patients weren’t properly warned about that risk. As Gordon Gibb writing for LawyersandSettlements notes, a lawsuit was filed by Tina Stockton, whose husband died of melanoma after taking Viagra for seven years.

Stockton argues her husband would not have taken Viagra - or would have limited the use - if he had known about the risks associated with the medication. According to the lawsuit, he began treatment for erectile dysfunction in 2000 and stopped in 2007. She alleges wrongful conduct on the part of Pfizer in its design, development and sale of Viagra.

Stockton’s lawsuit is case number 15-L-423.