BACKGROUND: Individual case reports have suggested an occasional association of lichen planus with internal malignancy. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to describe five patients with a neoplastic disease in whom lichen planus developed. METHODS: Serologic and immunopathologic studies were conducted. RESULTS: No evidence of autoantibody production characteristic of paraneoplastic pemphigus was found, and antibodies reactive with basal cell keratinocytes were not detected. CONCLUSION: Lichen planus may be rarely induced by neoplasia. A cell-mediated immune reaction possibly causes this phenomenon.
BACKGROUND: Individual case reports have suggested an occasional association of lichen planus with internal malignancy. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to describe five patients with a neoplastic disease in whom lichen planus developed. METHODS: Serologic and immunopathologic studies were conducted. RESULTS: No evidence of autoantibody production characteristic of paraneoplastic pemphigus was found, and antibodies reactive with basal cell keratinocytes were not detected. CONCLUSION: Lichen planus may be rarely induced by neoplasia. A cell-mediated immune reaction possibly causes this phenomenon.