Interesante estudio observaciones de ingesta de litio y reducción de melanoma, el problema son los efectos adversos!

Lithium May Reduce Melanoma Risk, Mortality

J Invest Dermatol; ePub 2017 Jun 16; Asgari, et al

June 28, 2017

Lithium may reduce melanoma risk and associated mortality, according to a recent study. Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult white Kaiser Permanente Northern California members (n=2,213,848) from 1997-2012 to examine the association between lithium use and melanoma risk. Lithium exposure (n=11,317) was assessed from pharmacy databases, serum lithium levels were obtained from electronic laboratory databases, and incident cutaneous melanomas (n=14,056) were identified from an established cancer registry. They found:

• Melanoma incidence per 100,000 person-years among lithium-exposed individuals was 67.4, compared to 92.5 in unexposed individuals.
• Lithium-exposed individuals had a 32% lower risk of melanoma risk in unadjusted analysis, but the estimate was attenuated and non-significant in adjusted analysis.
• No lithium-exposed individuals presented with thick (>4 mm) or advanced-stage melanoma at diagnosis.
• Among melanoma cases, lithium-exposed individuals were less likely to suffer melanoma-associated mortality (rate=4.68/1,000 person years) as compared to the unexposed (rate=7.21/1,000 person-years).

Citation:

Asgari MM, Chien AJ, Tsai AL, Fireman B, Quesenberry Jr CP. Association between lithium use and melanoma risk and mortality: A population-based study. [Published online ahead of print June 16, 2017]. J Invest Dermatol. doi:10.1016/j.jid.2017.06.002.