Malignant melanoma in early‐treated Parkinson's disease: The NET‐PD trial

Background The risk for malignant melanoma is higher than expected in Parkinson's disease (PD). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Exploratory Trials in PD (NET‐PD) Long‐term Study 1 (LS‐1) trial is a contemporary phase 3 study of subjects with early, treated PD. The objective of this work was to assess the incidence of malignant melanoma in a PD cohort. Methods Incident melanoma cases were identified from the adverse events log. The expected number of cases was calculated, using the expected incidence rates and the number of person‐years. Results A total of 618 females and 1119 males were followed for 6452 person‐years; 19 new melanoma cases were observed. The expected number was 5.29. The standardized event ratio compared to the general population was 3.6 (95% confidence interval, 2.2‐5.6). Conclusions The risk for developing melanoma was higher than expected in the NET‐PD LS‐1 cohort and was similar to the risk reported in earlier comparable clinical trial cohorts. Dermatologic screening may be useful in Parkinson's disease to identify melanoma at an early stage. © 2013 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society