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Are there any known issues related to radiation in the setting of vitiligo?

There have been case series published on this topic (most recently, PMID:26853347) with reported depigmentation within the RT treatment field.
6 Answers
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Radiation Oncology · University of Maryland
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I have treated several breast cancer patients with vitiligo with both photon and proton radiation therapy. In Caucasian people with the disease, I have found that the areas of vitiligo either stay hypopigmented (no pigment change) or I have had a handful of patients turn bright red in the areas of h...

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Radiation Oncology · GenesisCare
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I have experienced marked permanent in-field hypopigmentation in several patients, including Caucasian and African-American skin. For one patient it predated any vitiligo elsewhere for 2-3 years.

I consequently warn all patients with vitiligo of this possibility.

They did not experience undue acut...

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Radiation Oncology · University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
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I had an interesting patient with vitiligo in her breast. She developed classic erythema in the depigmented skin and hyperpigmentation without significant erythema in her normally pigmented skin (which was brown to begin with). She did fine in follow up but still had some lingering hyperpigmentation...

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Radiation Oncology · Yale School of Medicine
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Yes, there is potential for Koebner phenomenon and they should be counseled as such. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8018572/

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Radiation Oncology · Maimonides Medical Center
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I treated an Indian female who developed vitiligo shortly after her breast cancer diagnosis but limited to her neck. The vitiligo progressed in a few areas but following radiation the depigmentation in the treated breast, including areola, was much more pronounced than her contralateral breast. This...

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Radiation Oncology · USC Keck School of Medicine
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I have also seen increased hypopigmentation in-field in a Caucasian woman treated with RT for H&N cancer. She didn't mind it too much since her skin was already light and the hypopigmented area enlarging was not apparent, but if you looked carefully you can tell it has spread. She did not have more ...

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