Cutaneous melanoma, prostate-specific antigen testing and the subsequent risk of prostate cancer diagnosis: a prospective analysis of the 45 and Up Study

BACKGROUND: The association between cutaneous melanoma and subsequent risk of prostate cancer (PC) was examined in a large population-based cohort study. METHODS: Male participants in the Sax Institute’s 45 and Up Study (Australia) were recruited between 2006 and 2009. Questionnaire data and linked administrative health data from the Centre for Health Record Linkage and Services Australia identified melanomas diagnosed between 1/1/1994 and 12 months before Study recruitment (i.e., between 2005 and 2008), incident PCs, primary healthcare utilisation and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests. Men were excluded from the current analyses if they had a recorded PC or other cancer diagnosis other than melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer prior to recruitment. Multivariable Cox regression was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) adjusting for PSA-testing frequency before PC diagnosis. RESULTS: Of 96,548 eligible men, 1899 were diagnosed with melanoma during the melanoma diagnosis period and 3677 incident PC diagnosed during follow-up (latest date 31/12/2013). Men with melanoma diagnosis had increased risk of a subsequent PC diagnoses (vs. no melanoma; fully adjusted HR = 1.32; 95% CI: 1.09–1.60). There was weak evidence of higher risks of a subsequent PC diagnosis for men diagnosed with more than one melanoma compared to men diagnosed with only one melanoma (p = 0.077), and if first melanoma diagnosis was 10 to 15 years before Study recruitment (fully adjusted HR = 2.05; 95% CI [1.35, 3.12]). CONCLUSION: Melanoma diagnosis was associated with increased risk of subsequent PC diagnosis, after adjusting for PSA testing and primary healthcare utilisation. While our ability to adjust for PC screening reduced risk of detection bias, we acknowledge that residual confounding from increased medical surveillance after melanoma diagnoses cannot be entirely ruled out.