Research Has Debunked the Myth That Vitiligo Raises Skin Cancer Risk.
Vitiligo is believed to be an autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys melanin (pigment). That creates white patches of skin. Immunotherapy for skin cancer may help cause vitiligo. However, despite the increased sunburn risk, vitiligo doesn't appear to cause skin cancer.
Vitiligo does not pose a serious threat to one's health, but it can result in physical complications, such as eye issues, hearing problems, and sunburn. People with vitiligo also tend to be more likely to have another autoimmune disease (like thyroid disorders and some types of anemia).
Vitiligo can occur suddenly in people with melanoma who are not getting ICI treatment. It can also occur before melanoma is diagnosed. In these cases, it can sometimes be hard to know whether someone has normal vitiligo or if it is related to melanoma. This can lead to misdiagnosis and late detection of skin cancer.
If you see white patches and spots on your skin, it's important to find out if you have vitiligo. This disease increases the risk of having some other autoimmune diseases like thyroid disease and alopecia areata. Some people develop hearing loss or a problem with their vision.
Vitiligo most often affects the face, elbows and knees, back of the hands and feet, and genitals. It affects both sides of the body equally. Vitiligo is more noticeable in darker-skinned people because of the contrast of white patches against dark skin. No other skin changes occur.
Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease of the skin, which means that someone with vitiligo has an immune system that is malfunctioning in a small way. The normal role of the immune system is to protect you from infections and cancer.
Many people who have vitiligo are often otherwise healthy. Even so, it's important to find a doctor like a dermatologist who knows about vitiligo. People who have vitiligo have a higher risk of getting some other medical conditions. You can also get painful sunburns on the skin that has lost color.
Can melanoma look like a white spot? Most times, melanoma first develops as a mole with color. However, some types, such as amelanotic melanomas, are missing the dark pigment melanin, which gives most moles their color. This type of melanoma can appear as a white, pinkish, red, or flesh-colored spot.
Protect your skin from the sun.
A bad sunburn can worsen vitiligo. If you have a lighter skin tone, there's another advantage to protecting your skin from the sun. Without a tan, the lighter spots and patches are often less noticeable.
Research suggests that most people who develop vitiligo do so during childhood. As you age, Dr. Mohta says untreated vitiligo often progresses to involve the surrounding skin or create new patches of discoloration.
The condition usually begins with small white patches in a localized area. If the vitiligo progresses it can gradually spread across the body over time.
The authors concluded that the clinical presentation of leukoderma in patients with melanoma resembles that of vitiligo and proposed that ''melanoma-associated vitiligo '' (MAV) is the more appropriate term for leukoderma in patients with melanoma.
The disease does not affect life expectancy. However, it can have a significant impact on quality of life, especially psychologically and be responsible for disorders such as depression and anxiety.
Vitiligo is a chronic (long-lasting) autoimmune disorder that causes patches of skin to lose pigment or color. This happens when melanocytes – skin cells that make pigment – are attacked and destroyed, causing the skin to turn a milky-white color.
Complications of vitiligo are social stigmatization and mental stress, eye involvement like iritis, depigmented skin is more prone to sunburn, skin cancer, and hearing loss because of loss of cochlear melanocytes. Other complications are related to medications like skin atrophy after prolonged use of topical steroids.
New cohort analysis data suggest the risk of COVID-19 death is about 38% decreased among patients with the autoimmune disease.
Stage 1 skin cancer can vary in appearance depending on the type of skin cancer. Generally, it appears as a small growth or sore with a pearly or waxy appearance. It may also look like a red, scaly patch or a pink or flesh-colored bump.
The first sign of non-melanoma skin cancer is usually the appearance of a lump or patch on the skin that doesn't heal after a few weeks. In most cases, cancerous lumps are red and firm, while cancerous patches are often flat and scaly. Speak to your GP if you have any skin abnormality that hasn't healed after 4 weeks.
Vitiligo is associated with several comorbid autoimmune, systemic, and dermatological diseases, primarily thyroid disease, alopecia areata, diabetes mellitus, pernicious anemia, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Addison's disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Sjögren's syndrome, dermatomyositis, ...
As non-segmental vitiligo is closely associated with other autoimmune conditions, you may be assessed to see whether you have any symptoms that could suggest an autoimmune condition, such as: being tired and lacking energy (signs of Addison's disease) being thirsty and needing to urinate often (signs of diabetes)
Nevertheless, vitiligo has been found to be associated with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and autoimmune hepatitis [17].