Radiation-induced pemphigus vulgaris of the breast

Abstract

Pemphigus vulgaris is a rare autoimmune mucocutaneous bullous disease. Patients with a history of pemphigus vulgaris – who need radiotherapy – may show a long lasting bullous cutaneous manifestation, typical of pemphigus, within radiation fields. The literature describes fewer than 20 radio-induced cases. While systematic corticosteroid therapy has proven to be useful, topical treatment used in association with corticosteroid therapy is rarely described. To our knowledge the use of modern dressing products has never been described. We report our experience in a case in which modern dressing products were usefully associated to systemic therapy.