Background: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune subepidermal blistering disease. Objective: To review the literature on radiation therapy (RT)-associated BP. Methods: A review of the English language literature on patients who developed BP during and up to 10 years post RT was performed. Results: 29 patients were reported. 25 (86.2%) were women, 84% of whom had received RT for breast cancer. Three patients were male (10.3%). Gender was not mentioned in 1 (3.4%). 72% developed BP post RT; 28% developed BP while undergoing RT. BP was initially localized to irradiated sites in 25 patients and to non-irradiated sites in 2 patients. Two patients presented with generalized disease. Disease control was reported in 12 patients, partial remission in 7 and complete remission in 5. Conclusion: The clinical profile, response to therapy and clinical outcome may indicate that RT-associated BP may be a specific subset of BP with a relatively benign course.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.