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Hello! I have signed onto your list because I have a question about Sinemet that has gone unanswered elsewhere. Although this question does not involve PD, Sinemet is principly a PD drug, so I'm hopeful your group can shed some light. I take Senimet and Sinemet CR for Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS). There are other drugs that can be used to treat RLS, so it is not absolutly necessary that I take Sinemet. However, Sinemet is by far the best drug I have taken for RLS. It does a great job, and there are no side effects that have yet shown up. Therefore, my doctor and I may be tempted to leave me on this drug for many years, as my RLS can be very debilitating. The Du Pont Pharma monographs for Sinemet and Sinemet CR, that are printed in both the Canadian CPS and the U.S. PDR include the following warning: "Contraindications: ......Because levodopa may activate a malignant melanoma, Sinemet should not be used in patients with suspicious undiagnosed skin lesions or a history of melanoma." When I asked my doctor (a sleep disorders specialist) about this warning, she had no opinion. I have also had no luck elsewhere on the Net. QUESTIONS: 1) I do not have a history of melanoma, and to the best of my knowledge I do not now have suspicious skin lesions. However, I definitly have a family history, and both my sister (my only sibling) and I definitly have an affinity for pre-cancerous skin lesions. We both have very fair skin, sunburned badly and repeadly as children, and began having numerous a.keratoses diagnosed and removed in our 40's. (She is now 43 and I am 50.) In addition, both our Mother and her sister (our mother's only sibling) have had malignat melanomas removed. Does this history put me at greater risk of developing a melignat melanoma, if I were to remain on Sinemet for several years? (I could easily be on this drug for over 20 yrs.) 2) If the answer to question 1) is "yes" or "possibly", to what extent would this increased risk be dose related? (I take 2 Sinemet CR 100/25 tablets at bedtime and 1/2 to 1 Sinemet 100/25 tablet as needed during the night.) Thank you all for any advice you can offer. I realize that questions about the long-term use of drugs are difficult to answer with any certainty. But I would apprecite even your suspecions. Russell Heliker, Vancouver, Canada; [log in to unmask]