Anti-epiligrin (laminin 5) cicatricial pemphigoid and lung carcinoma: coincidence or association?

Anti-epiligrin cicatricial pemphigoid (CP) is a rare subset of CP in which patients have IgG autoantibodies directed against the dermal side of skin split by 1 mol/L NaCl. The antibodies react against epitopes in the lowermost portions of the lamina lucida, and immunoprecipitate epiligrin (laminin 5) in human keratinocyte extracts. We report a patient with this uncommon form of CP, who, following an 8-year period of well-controlled disease, experienced a severe flare in symptoms coincident with development of lung carcinoma. This raises the possibility of an association, in this case, between anti-epiligrin CP and lung carcinoma.