Does Vitiligo Increase Your Risk of Skin Cancer? Everyday Health
Does Vitiligo Increase Your Risk of Skin Cancer Everyday Health MenuNewslettersSearch Vitiligo
Diagnosing Vitiligo. NHS. November 5, 2019.
Are Some People More Likely to Get Skin Damage From the Sun? American Cancer Society. July 29, 2019.
Vitiligo. American Academy of Dermatology. June 29, 2022.
Teulings HE, Overkamp M, Ceylan E, et al. Decreased Risk of Melanoma and Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer in Patients With Vitiligo: A Survey Among 1,307 Patients and Their Partners. The British Journal of Dermatology. January 2013.Wu W, 23andMe Research Team, Amos C, et al. Inverse Relationship Between Vitiligo-Related Genes and Skin Cancer Risk. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. September 2018.Spritz RA. The Genetics of Generalized Vitiligo: Autoimmune Pathways and an Inverse Relationship With Malignant Melanoma. Genome Medicine. October 19, 2010.I Have Vitiligo, Will I Get Skin Cancer? University of Massachusetts Medical School. July 19, 2014.Lo JA, Fisher DE, Flaherty KT. Prognostic Significance of Cutaneous Adverse Events Associated With Pembrolizumab Therapy. JAMA Oncology. December 1, 2015.Vitiligo. Mayo Clinic. March 8, 2018.Show Less
Does Vitiligo Increase Your Risk of Skin Cancer
By Moira LawlerMedically Reviewed by Mohiba Tareen, MDReviewed: August 6, 2022Medically ReviewedData suggests there may be something about vitiligo that actually protects the skin from skin cancer. Olena Gorbenko/ShutterstockVitiligo is a skin disorder that causes white patches to appear on the skin. (1) The skin cells in these areas are missing melanocytes, which are cells containing melanin. Melanin is responsible for giving skin its color. Since these pale white patches on the skin lack melanin, they are more likely to get sunburn. (2) But interestingly, that doesn’t necessarily make people with vitiligo more susceptible to developing skin cancer. Here’s what you should know about the interesting relationship between vitiligo and skin cancer.Research Has Debunked the Myth That Vitiligo Raises Skin Cancer Risk
There’s a somewhat logical reason the myth that vitiligo heightens skin cancer risk has perpetuated. Melanin serves as a protective factor for the skin — it blocks out the sun’s damaging ultraviolet (UV) rays to a certain point. And of course, it’s the sun’s damaging UV rays that cause skin damage, including sunburn and skin cancer. (3) People with dark skin are less likely to get a sunburn than people with light skin because they have more melanin. It might then seem a logical jump to suspect that people with less melanin (as is the case in people with vitiligo) are at an increased risk of this type of damage, including having an increased risk of skin cancer. The research shows otherwise. Instead, data shows that vitiligo actually lowers one’s risk of developing skin cancer. “While having vitiligo doesn’t mean that you won’t get skin cancer, it seems to decrease the risk by about threefold,” explains Michelle Rodrigues, MBBS, a dermatologist in private practice in Melbourne, Australia.There Seems to Be Something About Vitiligo That Protects Skin From Skin Cancer
A 2013 study surveyed 1,307 people with nonsegmental vitiligo, meaning the vitiligo patches appear on both sides of the body. (4) The researchers found that these people had a threefold lower probability of developing the deadly skin cancer melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer than their partners, who did not have vitiligo and served as the control group for the study. (5) This data suggests that there may be something about vitiligo that protects the skin from skin cancer. Another study from 2018 reached a similar conclusion. The researchers used data from nearly 300,000 people who have used the genetic testing service 23andMe, plus 3,000 other people from a cancer center. The researchers compared genes that were associated with vitiligo with genes associated with skin cancer. They ultimately found an inverse relationship between the risk of vitiligo and the risk of three different types of skin cancer: melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, and squamous cell carcinoma. (6) RELATED: The Four Types of Melanoma Why might having vitiligo lower the risk of skin cancer? One theory is that the genes that make someone susceptible to developing vitiligo (HLA-A and TYR) also lower their risk of developing malignant melanoma. (7) Dr. Rodrigues says that people with vitiligo exhibit a little alteration (or a change from what’s expected) in these genes, and that’s what provides some protection against skin cancer. Another theory involves the immune system. Vitiligo is considered an autoimmune disease whereby the body mistakenly destroys normal melanocytes, resulting in white patches on the skin. That overactive immune system could potentially fight off dangerous melanoma cells, too. This theory doesn’t explain why vitiligo might protect against nonmelanoma skin cancers. (6,8) It is worth noting that certain targeted chemotherapies used to treat some types of skin cancer have been associated with an increased risk of developing vitiligo. (9) Though more research is needed to answer that question more conclusively.Skin Protection Is Still Important and Needed for People With Vitiligo
Even if the current research is correct and vitiligo does in fact offer the skin some protection against skin cancer, it doesn’t offer complete protection. Therefore, it’s still important to take precautions to protect the skin — whether you have vitiligo or not. “Patients with vitiligo still need to protect from the sun to avoid burning of the skin, especially if they are also having light therapy, which is used to treat some types of vitiligo,” Rodrigues says. It’s always a good idea to wear sunscreen. In addition to decreasing your risk of developing skin cancer, sunscreen can help you manage vitiligo. It’ll keep your skin from tanning, which means the difference in color between your normal skin and the skin that’s been discolored by vitiligo will be less noticeable. RELATED: 6 Steps for Choosing a Clean and Safe Sunscreen Plus, bad sunburn can be a trigger for vitiligo and make the condition spread or worsen. The Mayo Clinic recommends applying a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher every two hours. (10) What it boils down to is this: “Sun protection recommendations are the same whether or not you have vitiligo,” Rodrigues says. “But people with vitiligo don’t have to worry more about skin cancer than the rest of the population.”More on Skin Cancer
How to Spot the Signs of Skin Cancer
New Guidelines for Preventing Basal Cell and Squamous Cell Skin Cancer
How and Why to Start Talking About Skin Cancer Prevention Early
10 Things You May or May Not Know Cause Skin Cancer
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Vitiligo. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. May 2019.Diagnosing Vitiligo. NHS. November 5, 2019.
Are Some People More Likely to Get Skin Damage From the Sun? American Cancer Society. July 29, 2019.
Vitiligo. American Academy of Dermatology. June 29, 2022.
Teulings HE, Overkamp M, Ceylan E, et al. Decreased Risk of Melanoma and Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer in Patients With Vitiligo: A Survey Among 1,307 Patients and Their Partners. The British Journal of Dermatology. January 2013.Wu W, 23andMe Research Team, Amos C, et al. Inverse Relationship Between Vitiligo-Related Genes and Skin Cancer Risk. Journal of Investigative Dermatology. September 2018.Spritz RA. The Genetics of Generalized Vitiligo: Autoimmune Pathways and an Inverse Relationship With Malignant Melanoma. Genome Medicine. October 19, 2010.I Have Vitiligo, Will I Get Skin Cancer? University of Massachusetts Medical School. July 19, 2014.Lo JA, Fisher DE, Flaherty KT. Prognostic Significance of Cutaneous Adverse Events Associated With Pembrolizumab Therapy. JAMA Oncology. December 1, 2015.Vitiligo. Mayo Clinic. March 8, 2018.Show Less