Author Archive

This is an important note to all of my patients because of the frequency of biotin use by the public. Many doctors have recommended biotin as a supplement for years as it is inexpensive and easy to use. It is a water-soluble vitamin, which while it does little harm, the therapeutic benefit is negligible and it […]

Statin drugs are amongst the most commonly prescribed medications in America. Their primary role is in lowering high lipid levels to mitigate against the increased risk of heart disease associated with high lipids. However these same medications can have many other effects. A recent study shows that in the laboratory melanoma cells that show genetic […]

It is well recognized that having one basal cell cancer means that you probably have a 50% chance of one day developing a second basal cell cancer. However the risk of future invasive skin cancer in patients with only squamous cell cancer in situ (the earliest stage of skin cancer) was not clear. Now a […]

Previous studies have shown that the same antihistamines have survival benefits in breast cancer. Now we see the same thing concerning malignant melanoma. However, more research is required to confirm the results,” emphasises Professor Håkan Olsson. He is one of the researchers behind the study, which was recently published in the research journal, Allergy. We […]

A recent study looked at the prevalence of skin cancer in 845 264 participants and the relative risk of skin cancer based on sexual orientation. They found that gay and bisexual men had a higher prevalence of skin cancer compared to heterosexual men. The reasons are not elucidated by this study but could be related to […]

We know that ultra-violet radiation (UV) is a carcinogen and that sun exposure or indoor tanning are risk factors for melanoma. However we also know that not all melanomas are due to UV exposure. In a recent study from the American Cancer Society investigators tried to qualify the amount of melanoma that is related to […]

Dogs will eat anything! So be careful not to give them the opportunity to ingest your medications. In a recent publication it became clear that there have been several deaths of pets as a result of them ingesting the topical cream 5-Flurouracil (Efudex or Carac). This topical chemotherapy cream is often used in humans to […]

Patients with a history of a none melanoma skin cancer such as basal cell or squamous cell cancer are at higher risk of subsequent basal cell or squamous cell cancers. However a recent study from Korea has suggested that these patient may also be at risk for other types of malignancies such as bone cancer or […]

While the overall incidence of melanoma seems to be on the rise, there was a significant lowering in the rate of melanoma in among adolescents (10–19 years of age) and young adults (20–29 years of age). Using registry data, these authors evaluated 988,103 cases of invasive melanoma and found that, the overall incidence of melanoma […]

Not for the first time, an article that suggests that dogs can “smell” a melanoma and react to it. A 43 year old women presented to her doctor for evaluation of a mole on her back that had been present since childhood. She described how recently her 2 year old rescue dog had been frequently […]