Divergence between the high rate of p53 mutations in skin carcinomas and the low prevalence of anti-p53 antibodies.

Circulating anti-p53 antibodies have been described and used as tumoural markers in patients with various cancers and strongly correlate with the p53 mutated status of the tumours. No study has yet looked at the prevalence of such antibodies in skin carcinoma patients although these tumours have been shown to be frequently p53 mutated. Most skin carcinoma can be diagnosed by examination or biopsy, but aggressive, recurrent and/or non-surgical cases' follow up would be helped by a biological marker of residual disease. We performed a prospective study looking at the prevalence of anti-p53 antibodies using an ELISA technique in a series of 105 skin carcinoma patients in comparison with a sex- and age-matched control skin carcinoma-free group (n = 130). Additionally, p53 accumulation was studied by immunohistochemistry to confirm p53 protein altered expression in a sample of tumours. Anti-p53 antibodies were detected in 2.9% of the cases, with a higher prevalence in patients suffering from the more aggressive squamous cell type (SCC) of skin carcinoma (8%) than for the more common and slowly growing basal cell carcinoma type or BCC (1.5%). p53 protein stabilization could be confirmed in 80% of tumours studied by IHC. This low level of anti-p53 antibody detection contrasts with the high rate of p53 mutations reported in these tumours. This observation shows that the anti-p53 humoral response is a complex and tissue-specific mechanism.

[Erythema annulare centrifugum and relapsing polychondritis]. / Dermatose à type d'érythème annulaire centrifuge et polychondrite atrophiante.

BACKGROUND: Relapsing polychondritis is a rare systemic disease. Skin involvement occurs in 20 to 50 % of cases. Cutaneous signs are most often related to a leukocytoclastic vasculitis. Association of relapsing polychondritis with neutrophilic dermatosis have also been reported. We report the first case of an erythema annulare centrifugum-like dermatosis associated with relapsing polychondritis, with a two years delay between both conditions. CASE REPORT: A 74 year-old man was seen for papulo-erythematous centrifugal annular lesions that appeared 18 months earlier in a context of bad general conditions. Biological tests were normal. Several skin biopsies were performed, showing at the beginning features of drug reaction and then of lupus-lichen. Treatment with hydroxychloroquine, topical corticosteroids, dapsone and thalidomide were unsuccessful. In the following months, the patient developed fever and relapsing bronchitis. Suddenly, a chondritis of the ears appeared, leading to the diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis. All the cutaneous, chondritic and respiratory signs disappeared with oral steroid therapy. Two years after the diagnosis of relapsing polychondritis the patient developed refractory anemia. DISCUSSION: Cutaneous signs of relapsing polychondritis are frequent and may occur several months or years before the chondritis. They are polymorphous, but to the best of our knowledge, a clinical aspect of erythema annulare centrifugum has never been described. Our observation recalls the sometimes long delay between the cutaneous and the chondritic signs of relapsing polychondritis and the high frequency of dysmyelopoiesis in relapsing polychondritis with cutaneous involvement.