Cancer Risks in Vitiligo Patients: A Nationwide Population-Based Study in Taiwan

Cheng-Yuan Li, Ying-Xiu Dai, Yi-Ju Chen, Szu-Ying Chu, Tzeng-Ji Chen, Chen-Yi Wu, Chih-Chiang Chen, Ding-Dar Lee and Yun-Ting Chang
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Cheng-Yuan Li: Department of Dermatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 11217, Taiwan
Ying-Xiu Dai: Department of Dermatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 11217, Taiwan
Yi-Ju Chen: School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan
Szu-Ying Chu: Department of Dermatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 11217, Taiwan
Tzeng-Ji Chen: School of Medicine, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei 11221, Taiwan
Chen-Yi Wu: Department of Dermatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 11217, Taiwan
Chih-Chiang Chen: Department of Dermatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 11217, Taiwan
Ding-Dar Lee: Department of Dermatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 11217, Taiwan
Yun-Ting Chang: Department of Dermatology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei 11217, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-10

Abstract: Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease characterized by destruction of melanocytes and associated with other autoimmune disease. Whether the dysregulation of immune system enhances oncogenesis or not remains obscure. Until now, no nationwide population-based study has been conducted regarding this. As such, this paper aims to clarify cancer risk in vitiligo patients. A retrospective nationwide population-based cohort study between 2000 and 2010 was performed based on data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) of cancers were analyzed. Among the 12,391 vitiligo patients (5364 males and 7027 females) and 48,531.09 person-years of observation, a total of 345 cancers were identified. Significantly increased SIRs were observed for prostate cancer in male patients, thyroid cancer and breast cancer in female patients and bladder cancers in both male and female patients. Unfortunately, the low incidence rate of certain cancers limited the power of our statistical analyses. This study demonstrated the patterns of malignancies in vitiligo patients of Taiwan. Compared with the general population, male patients had higher risks of prostate cancer and female patients had higher risks of thyroid cancer and breast cancer. The risks of bladder cancer were also increased in both male and female patients.

Keywords: bladder cancer; breast cancer; malignancy; prostate cancer; Taiwan; thyroid cancer; vitiligo (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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