Are patients with vitiligo prone to cancer?

Patients with vitiligo do not show an increased incidence of cancer, according to a study. 

This population-based study assessed the risk of cancer in patients with vitiligo using the Clalit Health Services database (2000–2023) with a cohort study design. The authors then calculated the adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) using multivariate Cox regressions. 

A total of 25,008 patients with vitiligo (mean age 35.96 years, 50.7 percent men) matched with 245,550 controls were included in this study.  

Cancer incidence was 499 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 468–532) cases per 100,000 person-years among patients with vitiligo and 487 (95 percent CI, 476–497) cases per 100,000 person-years among those without (adjusted HR, 1.00, 95 percent CI, 0.93–1.07; p=0.999). 

Interestingly, patients with vitiligo were found to have a lower risk of melanoma (adjusted HR, 0.70, 95 percent CI, 0.50–0.99; p=0.0337), lung cancer (adjusted HR, 0.73, 95 percent CI, 0.57–0.93; p=0.007), and bladder cancer (adjusted HR, 0.70, 95 percent CI, 0.52–0.94; p=0.0138). 

“Consequently, cancer screening for these patients should follow the standard guidelines recommended for the general population,” the authors said. 

This study was limited by the involvement of multiple comparisons, “which could potentially influence the results,” according to the authors.