PREVALENCE OF SKIN AND OTHER CANCERS IN PATIENTS WITH PSORIASIS

The prevalence of skin and internal malignancies was estimated from th e general practitioners' notes of 2247 patients with psoriasis and 449 4 age- and sex-matched controls. The prevalence of skin cancer in the psoriatics was 155% that of controls, but this was not significant at the 5% level. Subgroup analysis showed an increase in skin cancers in women (P<0.05). There was no difference in the age of onset of skin ca ncers between psoriatics and controls and there was no evidence of a c umulative therapeutic risk. There was no difference in the prevalence of non-skin cancers between psoriatics and controls.