Testosterone may increase skin cancer risk for men

A LINK between higher levels of testosterone and increased risk of skin cancer in men has been made for the first time by researchers.

It is hoped the findings could help identify those who are at greater risk from the disease.

The study confirmed known links between testosterone and prostate cancer in men, and breast and endometrial cancer in postmenopausal women.

But it said that for men, ‘higher total and free testosterone concentrations were associated with an increased risk of malignant melanoma’.

The study, funded by Cancer Research UK, of 182,600 men and 122,100 postmenopausal women in the UK Biobank database is the largest of its kind.

Melanoma is the fifth most common cancer in the UK. In the last decade, cases in men increased by 47 per cent.

Dr Eleanor Watts, lead author of the study published in the International Journal of Cancer, said: ‘This is the first time a link between testosterone and skin cancer has been seen. The next step will be ... to look more closely at why testosterone might be related to the risk of melanoma developing in men.’