TITLE:
Frequency of Benign and Malignant Tumors in Localized Vitiligo in Comparison to Generalized and Universal Vitiligo
AUTHORS:
Khalifa E. Sharquie, Adil A. Noaimi, Sadiq J. Murtada
KEYWORDS:
Vitiligo, Photodamage, Photoprotection, Benign and Malignant Tumors
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications,
Vol.6 No.4,
August
4,
2016
ABSTRACT: Background: Autoimmune diseases like pemphigus and systemic lupus
erythematosus are protective against skin malignancies like basal cell
carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Objective: As vitiligo is an autoimmune
diseases, the aim of the present work is to record the frequency of all benign
and malignant skin tumors among patients with different severity of vitiligo
and to be compared with the skin tumors in healthy control. Patients and
Methods: This is a case series, descriptive study done in the Department of
Dermatology—Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from
May 2014-May 2015. History was taken from each patient with vitiligo regarding
age, gender, duration, personal and family history of vitiligo and other
autoimmune diseases such as diabetes mellitus, thyroid dysfunction, and
alopecia areata. Patients were assessed for past and present history of
photodermatosis and any skin cancers. Healthy control was considered. Results:
Three hundred and fifty patients with vitiligo were included in this study: 50
patients with universal vitiligo, 100 patients with generalized vitiligo, and
200 patients with localized vitiligo as well as 500 subjects as a healthy
control. The ages of all studied subjects ranged between 31 and 77 years. Twenty
four(48%) patients with universal vitiligo were males and 26 (52%) were females;
49(49%) patients with generalized vitiligo were males and 51(51%) were females;
101(50.5%) patients with localized vitiligo were males and 99(49.5%) were
females and 235(47%) of control were males and 265(53%) were females. All skin
tumors were seen to be high in healthy subjects and lower or absent in patients
with vitiligo. Also patients with mild vitiligo had a higher frequency of skin
tumors including benign and malignant than patients with severe vitiligo
especially in patients with universal vitiligo. In addition, no
photosensitivity or actinic reticuloid was detected in patients with vitiligo. Conclusions:
Vitiligo especially generalized and universal type as an autoimmune disease had
a protective action against photodamage, photosensitivity and skin tumors
whether benign or malignant.