Diagnosis of epidermoid lung carcinoma in a patient presenting with skin lesions

Skin lesions sometimes represent internal diseases or malignancies. Diagnosis of the associated disease could be important for the prognosis of the patient. Linear IgA bullous dermatosis (LABD) is a rare autoimmune sub epidermal vesiculobullous disease. Tense vesicles and bullae, sometimes in an arcuate or linear pattern, are seen as the clinical feature. Although associations of various disorders such as gastrointestinal diseases, autoimmune diseases, malignancies with LABD have been reported, it is rare. We report a patient who was diagnosed epidermoid carcinoma of the lung after presentation with tense, annular bullous lesions and didn’t respond to prednisolone and dapsone but was treated successfully by neoadjuvant chemotherapy and tumour reduction operation.

___

  • Barnadas, M.A., Moreno, A., Brunet, S., González, M.J., Rodriguez, J.L., Gelpí, C., de Moragas, J.M., 1988. Linear IgA bullous dermatosis associated with Hodgkin‘s disease. J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 19, 1122–1124.
  • Egan, C.A., Zone, J.J., 1999. Linear IgA bullous dermatosis. Int. J. Dermatol. 38, 818-827.
  • Green, S.T., Natarajan, S., 1987. Linear IgA disease and oesophageal carcinoma. J. R. Soc. Med. 80, 48-49.
  • Godfrey, K., Wojnarowska, F., Leonard, J., 1990. Linear IgA disease of adults: Association with lymphoproliferative malignancy and possible role of other triggering factors. Br. J. Dermatol. 123, 447–452.
  • Kano, Y., Kokaji, T., Shiohara, T., 1999. Linear IgA bullous dermatosis in a patient with acute lymphocytic leukemia: Possible involvement of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor Eur. J. Dermatol. 9, 122-125.
  • Lai-Cheong, J.E., Groves, R.W., Banerjee, P., 2007. Linear IgA bullous dermatosis associated with adenocarcinoma of the ascending colon. J. Eur. Acad. Dermatol. 21, 978-979.
  • Rodenas, J.M., Herranz, M.T., Tercedor, J., Concha, A., 1997. Linear IgA disease in a patient with bladder carcinoma. Br. J. Dermatol. 136, 257–259.
  • Sandoval, M., Farias, M.M., Gonzalez, S., 2012. Linear IgA bullous dermatosis: Report of five cases in Chile. Int. J. Dermatol. 51, 1303-1306. Usmani, N., Baxter, K.F., Child, J.A., Sheehan-Dare, R., 2004. Linear IgA disease in association with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. Br. J. Dermatol. 151, 710-711.
  • Van der Waal, R.I., Van de Scheur, M.R., Pas, H.H., Jonkman, M.F., Van Groeningen, C.J. Nieboer, C., Starink, T.M., 2001. Linear IgA bullous dermatosis in a patient with renal cell carcinoma. Br. J. Dermatol. 144, 870-873.