Comparison of cancer risk between neutrophilic dermatoses and plaque psoriasis patients: a cancer registry-based study

This population-based, retrospective cohort study included all the patients who had received a histological diagnosis of either neutrophilic dermatoses or plaque psoriasis between 1995 and 2015 in the province of Ferrara, northern Italy. It was intended to assess the risk of cancer development based on the Ferrara Cancer Registry dataset. The study cohort included 278 patients (51.8% males, age at diagnosis ranging from 9 to 93 years, median 54.5), of whom 52 (18.7%) were affected with neutrophilic dermatosis and 226 (81.3%) with plaque psoriasis. The whole cohort experienced a 31% global excess of cancer risk with respect to the age-matched general population living in the same area With respect to the main study objective, the increased cancer risk among patients with neutrophilic dermatoses (SIR 1.35, CI 95% 0.7–2.4), when compared with the general population, did not differ significantly from that of patients with plaque psoriasis (SIR 1.30, CI 95% 0,9-1,8) both in univariate and multivariate Cox model. Further studies are expected both to deepen the understanding of the relationship between these inflammatory skin diseases and cancer.