Dermatomyositis associated with malignancy. 12 case reports.

Dermatomyositis (DM) is an idiopathic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology which manifests itself with symmetrical proximal muscle weakness and typical heliotrope skin rash. Internal malignancy is a specific trigger for some cases of DM. The aim of this study is to find predictive signs of cancer in dermatomyositis patients. Twelve (2 males and 10 females) (24%) out of 50 adult patients with DM (10 males and 40 females between 21 and 81 years old) had associated with malignancy (paraneopastic dermatomyositis, PDM). The male: female ratio in patients with idiopathic dermatomyositis (IDM) was 1:3.75 and for PDM it was 1:5. The frequency of dermatomyositis increases with age. PDM is most frequent between 40 and 69 years of life. Associated malignancies were respiratory tract carcinomas in males, genital and breast carcinomas in females. DM preceded the carcinoma in 5 cases (41.7%); 7 patients (58.3%) had already been treated for malignancy. In conclusion PDM in our country is more frequent in females and in the age after 40 years. Association of dermatomyositis with malignancy is relatively high.