Case of thymoma ‐associated cutaneous graft‐versus‐host disease‐like disease successfully improved by narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy

Abstract Thymoma‐associated graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD)‐like disease is a rare paraneoplastic disease seen in patients with thymoma. Here, we describe the first case of thymoma‐associated GVHD‐like disease localized to the skin that was successfully improved by a combination of systemic corticosteroids and whole‐body narrowband ultraviolet (UV)‐B phototherapy. The patient had developed toxic epidermal necrolysis‐like erosive skin lesions over the whole body. Although systemic corticosteroids were effective up to a point, we were unable to begin the steroid taper. The addition of systemic narrowband UV‐B phototherapy improved the skin manifestation of this disease, allowing corticosteroids to be reduced to a third of the original dose. Histopathologically, it was confirmed that the proportion of Foxp3‐positive lymphocytes in the skin increased after narrowband UV‐B irradiation. We propose that whole‐body narrowband UV‐B phototherapy is a good therapeutic option for the skin manifestation of thymoma‐associated GVHD‐like disease.
Source: The Journal of Dermatology - Category: Dermatology Authors: Tags: Concise Communication Source Type: research