Skin cancer after using Melanotan-II

[soujerz]

http://www.ergo-log.com/skin-cancer-...lanotan-2.html

Interesting article.

[Triple-H_2005]

Correlation is not causation.

I would find it far more interesting if there were something other than supposition.

[Curt James]

Skin cancer after using Melanotan-II

Melanotan-II The tanning substance Melanotan-II, available online, probably caused skin cancer in a 20-year-old woman. The dermatologists at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark who treated the woman reported on the case.

If you are a) not afraid of needles and b) like to have a tanned complexion, you probably already know Melanotan-II. Lots of websites sell the stuff. Inject yourself every other day for a month with 1 mg of it and your skin darkens.

We've written about Melanotan-II before. That article was about a man who was so keen to get a tan that he gave himself such an overdose of the experimental substance that his muscles fell apart. If you want to know more about Melanotan-II just read that article.

Tumour
The woman that the Danes wrote about had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her skin was deep brown – much browner than you get if you use a sunbed. She had used Melanotan-II three months previously for 3-4 weeks and she'd combined that with a course of sunbed treatments. She developed a black patch on her left buttock, which seemed to continuously give off electric shocks.

The patch was half a centimetre in diameter. The dermatologists removed it and studied the tissue under the microscope. It was a melanoma, a malignant form of skin cancer, they concluded. Melanomas are formed from melanocytes, the skin cells that contain the pigment melanin. Melanin is the substance that makes skin turn brown, and protects it against sunlight.

In the photo below the arrows indicate abnormal melanocytes in the tumour that was removed.



Stage
The development of the tumour was not very advanced. Dermatologists distinguish five stages in the development of melanomas. In the first stage the tumour is only in the outer layer of the skin, the epidermis. In the second stage the tumour is already a little deeper, in the dermis. That was the case with this particular tumour.

Three months later the doctors examined the women again. They found no traces of other melanomas. What they did notice was that the woman had irregular birthmarks all over her body. Doctors often notice these in Melanotan-II users. According to Irish doctors these can arise within a week, after just two injections. [Ir Med J. 2013 May;106(5):148-9.]

Tanning culture
"Physicians should be aware that Melanotan-II has become a part of the tanning culture in certain subpopulations", the Danes write. "Our observation indicates a possible association between Melanotan-II and melanoma, but larger studies are needed to substantiate this linkage."

Source:
Dermatology. 2014;228(1):34-6.

From http://www.ergo-log.com/skin-cancer-...lanotan-2.html

[soujerz]

Correlation is not causation.

I would find it far more interesting if there were something other than supposition.

Unfortunately there are no long term studies in regards to melanotan II. Although it does produce irregular birthmarks, which last forever while your tan eventually goes away.

[Ironbrian82]

Unfortunately there are no long term studies in regards to melanotan II. Although it does produce irregular birthmarks, which last forever while your tan eventually goes away.

guys I read that it was developed in Australia to help prevent skin cancer, but could not give it to the masses as it was injectable, I also read it was developed for ED, and china got they're hands on it and mass produced it, whats the truth as I use it 2 months out of the year at 5i.u before sunbed every 10 days and works wonders, no dark patches etc, I know guys who use a bottle a day leading up to a contest, and women at the gym love the stuff year round, has anyone read these storys

[Rocco1943]

I wonder why no mention of the tanning bed having a possible connection to the melanoma and only the injection being the probable cause?

[soujerz]

Does anyone know through what mechanism of action Melanotan II works on darkening the skin?

Is it an increase in melanocytes? or melanin production?

[data4]

Does anyone know through what mechanism of action Melanotan II works on darkening the skin?

Is it an increase in melanocytes? or melanin production?

I think it is melanin but dont quote me on that.

[Curt James]

I think it is melanin but dont quote me on that.

Aaaaah...

I think it is melanin but dont quote me on that.

Oh.

Never mind.

[Baldiewonkanobi]

My guess is that the patient was a long time "tanning enthusiast" and had a history using tanning beds.

I was a tanaholic. I had my own first class tanning bed and spent many a lunch break behind the office on a cot tanning. I have melanoma...lost 1/4 of my forehead. A chunk on top of my head and one lymph node. I visit my dermo doc twice a year and get all the pre cancers zapped. 12 years in remission.

Report should have included her lifetime tanning history.

[Triple-H_2005]

My guess is that the patient was a long time "tanning enthusiast" and had a history using tanning beds.

I was a tanaholic. I had my own first class tanning bed and spent many a lunch break behind the office on a cot tanning. I have melanoma...lost 1/4 of my forehead. A chunk on top of my head and one lymph node. I visit my dermo doc twice a year and get all the pre cancers zapped. 12 years in remission.

Report should have included her lifetime tanning history.

Exactly...the lack of pertinent information informs my assertion that this was more supposition than science.

[soujerz]

My guess is that the patient was a long time "tanning enthusiast" and had a history using tanning beds.

I was a tanaholic. I had my own first class tanning bed and spent many a lunch break behind the office on a cot tanning. I have melanoma...lost 1/4 of my forehead. A chunk on top of my head and one lymph node. I visit my dermo doc twice a year and get all the pre cancers zapped. 12 years in remission.

Report should have included her lifetime tanning history.

Possibly long time tanning enthusiast, one thing though she was 20 years old. Hmmmm just food for thought.

Also a show a of hands please of you who are skeptics, do you also happen to be users of melanotan II, as they say denial is more than just a river in egypt.

[soujerz]

From Pub Med.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24355990

And here is the link for the full text.

http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/356389

"DiscussionThis observation brings attention to the potential risk of melanoma related to the use of the cyclic α-MSH analogue MT-II. The drug is unlicensed and incompletely tested, and the extent and types of adverse effects are unknown. Moreover MT-II is often used for merely cosmetic purposes by young people attending fitness studios.
The use of MT-II is often combined with the intense use of tanning beds, well established as a substantial risk factor for cutaneous melanoma [12].
In our case the close temporal relationship between MT-II injections and clinical growth and darkening of a melanoma points to a possible association.
The plausibility of a real causal association between MT-II and melanoma is however debatable. In vivo studies and studies in murine models have not shown any carcinogenic effect of the linear α-MSH analogue MT-I [4]. Investigations on the naturally occurring α-MSH have shown multiple functions of the hormone. On the one hand, studies have proven α-MSH to be anticarcinogenic with tumour suppressor effects, but on the other hand, research on melanoma cells in addition indicates a pro-invasive effect of α-MSH, thus enabling the melanoma cells to evade immune surveillance [13]. When it comes to MT-II, however, the true biological potential of the substance remains unknown.
Physicians should be aware that MT-II has become a part of the tanning culture in certain subpopulations. Our observation indicates a possible association between MT-II and melanoma, but larger studies are needed to substantiate this linkage."


Again I'm not trying to talk shit on users i'm simply informing users with more information, information is key. At the end of the day is the long term RISK worth the short term REWARD?

[Triple-H_2005]

Possibly long time tanning enthusiast, one thing though she was 20 years old. Hmmmm just food for thought.

Also a show a of hands please of you who are skeptics, do you also happen to be users of melanotan II, as they say denial is more than just a river in egypt.

Without getting into a pissing match over who has the correct opinion, I'll simply add this.

I have been in med sales for over a decade now, and the past three years in dermatology. I consulted with no fewer than 10 of them before I tried MT2 and they ALL endorsed it's usage as a preventive measure against sun damage.

Further, I have shown a handful of them this "case study" in the couple of days since it was posted, and they all concurred with my and Baldie's supposition about long-term tanning.

One doesn't have to be in their 4th or 5th decade of skin abuse for "long-term" to be an accurate label or before seeing melanoma rear it's ugly head.

"Possible association" is more correlation.

Again, correlation is NOT causation.

[soujerz]

Without getting into a pissing match over who has the correct opinion, I'll simply add this.

I have been in med sales for over a decade now, and the past three years in dermatology. I consulted with no fewer than 10 of them before I tried MT2 and they ALL endorsed it's usage as a preventive measure against sun damage.

Further, I have shown a handful of them this "case study" in the couple of days since it was posted, and they all concurred with my and Baldie's supposition about long-term tanning.

One doesn't have to be in their 4th or 5th decade of skin abuse for "long-term" to be an accurate label or before seeing melanoma rear it's ugly head.

"Possible association" is more correlation.

Again, correlation is NOT causation.

Again i don't use melanotan so there really nothing to argue over YOU DO though so its in your best interest for this article any any other article showing causation or correlation to be wrong. You have a bias. Also the 10 derms you talked to have no long term data no one does. Of course you can be our long term data guinea pig. Please keep us updated on how things work out for you long term.