Creation of psoriatic plaques: the ultimate tumor suppressor pathway. A new model for an ancient T-cell-mediated skin disease. Viewpoint.

From an oncological and immunological perspective, the T-cell-mediated induction of psoriatic plaques should be prone to malignant transformation as the phenotype of psoriatic plaques includes: chronic inflammation, epidermal hyperplasia, prolonged survival and elevated telomerase levels in lesional keratinocytes, as well as angiogenesis, exposure to carcinogens and immunosuppressants. However, conversion of a psoriatic plaque to squamous cell carcinoma is exceedingly rare. This paper explores the possible molecular mechanism for the tumor suppressor pathway in psoriatic lesions, with an emphasis on a putative senescence-switch involving p16.