Open AccessDermatomyositis Associated with Cancer of Unknown Primary Site
Author(s) -
Hyung Il Kim,
Sung Hoon Chung,
JunEul Hwang,
Sang Ho Kim,
Jae Sook Ahn,
Duk Hwan Yang,
Yoe Kyeoung Kim,
Sook Jung Yun,
SangHee Cho,
Je Jung Lee,
Ik Joo Chung,
Hyeoung Joon Kim
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of korean medical science/journal of korean medical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1598-6357
pISSN - 1011-8934
DOI - 10.3346/jkms.2007.22.s.s174
Subject(s) - medicine , dermatomyositis , proximal muscle weakness , rash , weakness , cancer , inflammatory myopathy , methotrexate , muscle weakness , breast cancer , pathology , oncology , gastroenterology , dermatology , biopsy , surgery , muscle biopsy
Dermatomyositis (DM) is an uncommon inflammatory myopathy with characteristic rash accompanying, or more often preceding, muscle weakness. There is a well-recognized association between DM and several cancers, such as ovarian cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, colon cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. We report the first case of cancer of unknown primary site associated with DM. A 62-yr-old woman presented to us with both shoulder painful swelling and facial edema. She was diagnosed previously as cancer of unknown primary site, histologically confirmed with squamous cell carcinoma in a pelvic mass. For the following days, she complained of erythematous face followed by progressive weakness of the proximal muscles of upper and lower limbs. The laboratory tests showed an increased muscle enzyme and acute phase reactants. The electromyogram showed the typical findings of DM. After the treatment with high dose steroid and methotrexate, the proximal motor weakness improved, and she received palliative radiation therapy.