After a medical researcher – Dr. Rizwan Haq from the Dana Farber Cancer Institute – claimed that Viagra and Cialis cause skin cancer, Dr. Lynn Schuchter testified that she has analyzed the data of seven studies and found no plausible link between the impotence drugs and skin cancer.
Dr. Schuchter is a professor and oncologist at the University of Pennsylvania.
On Thursday, she said, “Every week I have a patient with melanoma who is taking these medications. If I thought this medication increased their risk of getting melanoma, I would tell them to stop.”
She reviewed seven different studies conducted on more than 4 million patients and found that the risk of not “statistically” significant.
A 2014 study found patients who took sildenafil (Viagra) had more than 84 percent risk of developing melanoma; however, subsequent studies found that the risk was 1 to 25 percent, proving it wrong.
The oncologist said, “There is no evidence that showed these medications make melanoma progress.”
Upon asking why a few studies found the risk of accelerating melanoma, a type of skin cancer, Dr. Schuchter explained, “There were confounding factors for patients, the primary one being sun exposure.”
She addressed a 2019 study, which found that patients who took these Erectile Dysfunction (ED) drugs had a risk of developing basal cell carcinoma, another type of skin cancer. However, she said, “There is no biological plausibility that these medications can cause basal cell cancer.”
“That tells me there is more sun exposure for men who are taking medications like Cialis and Viagra,” explained Dr. Schuchter.
She also addressed another study that investigated whether these ED drugs can be used to treat melanoma. Referring to that study, Dr. Schuchter said such an experiment would have not been conducted if the medical community believed these medicines could harm people.
The findings of that study suggested that the medications were well tolerated, with no significant side effects and rapid progression of skin cancer.
“You wouldn’t treat a patient with a drug that makes melanoma worse,” said the oncologist. “I don’t think these medications will be anti-cancer agents, but I think it showed these medications are safe and didn’t accelerate melanoma.”
Dr. Schuchter is the first among four medical researchers to testify on behalf of Pfizer (Viagra) and Eli Lilly (Cialis) in a four-day causation hearing. US District Judge Richard Seeborg who will decide whether the science justifying the claims against the two drugs is strong enough to absolve a jury trial. The hearing will be continued through October 22.
