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Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2000 June;135(3):339-52

Copyright © 2000 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

Paraneoplastic pemphigus: association, correlation or syndrome

D’Avino M., Guerrera V., Pinto F., Lo Schiavo A.

Seconda Università degli Studi - Napoli Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia Clinica Dermosifilopatica (Direttore: Prof. V. Ruocco)

The pemphigus-neoplasia association is a well-known topic but it is also an open question. A literature review of cases of pemphigus-neoplasia association from 1936 to 1998 is presented. The mere association, the possible etiopathogenic correlations or the existence of a true syndrome are considered. Thymoma and lymphoreticular neoplasms are the most frequently associated tumors. Clinical and pathogenic aspects of the neoplasia-associated pemphigus do not differ on the whole from those characterizing the form not associated with a tumour. However, in 1990, Anhalt described a distinct autoimmune vesicobullous disorder with peculiar clinical and histological features (overlapping pemphigus and erythema multiforme), associated with lymphoreticular neoplasms, which he termed paraneoplastic pemphigus.