Skin cancer risk unrelated to dermatitis

People with a history of eczema or allergic dermatitis are no more likely to develop non-melanoma skin cancer than others with dermatological conditions. Rather the risk for dermatitis patient is actually lower, according to recent research.Very little has been published on whether a relationship exists between atopic (allergic) dermatitis and skin cancer. To learn more, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia, examined responses to a mailed survey from 2911 people seen at a dermatology clinic. Of the total, 1533 had non-melanoma skin cancers and 1378 had non-cancerous conditions. A history of atopic dermatitis was recorded by 210 (13.7 percent) of the people with skin cancer and by 254 (18.4 percent) of the others. After taking into account age, sex, ethnicity, and topical steroid use, the odds of non-melanoma skin cancer was 22 percent lower in people with atopic dermatitis.
According to the researchers, it is important that future studies realise that people with atopic dermatitis may be at a decreased risk of developing non-melanoma skin cancer. This is especially important for future studies evaluating the risk of non-melanoma skin cancers in patients with atopic dermatitis, in that the appropriate comparison group would likely not be those with general dermatological conditions as used for the current study but other patients with atopic dermatitis.

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