Chemo treating psoriasis ? So is psoriasis related to BC ?

trigeek

I have had psoriasis since I was 2, at puberty it changed to a manageable state ( I was covered head to toe before that yuck.. ). After the AC chemo the remaining little lesions totally disappeared, I was quite surprised.

This made me think, was having psoriasis and indication of the possibility of developing BC ?

Anyone else had psoriasis here ?

Barbara1

I was diagnosed bc Oct 2007.  Obviously I have had it for a while.  I have never had any problems with my skin until this past year.  I have started getting psoriasis and spots where it would scab up, itch, and then fall off just to start all over again. 

Your post has got me thinking maybe it does have a possibility.  Strange, but I like the idea of them disappearing after chemo.  Haven't started yet, but in a week or two

Barb

TerryNY

I have a friend who is being treated for psoriasis using an oral chemo drug...can't remember which one.  But she does not have breast cancer.   

There are many drugs that are multi-use and treat a variety of illnesses.

So a beneficial side effect from chemo!  Have to look at the bright side sometimes, right?  :=) 

nash

How interesting--I have had psoriasis on my scalp since childhood, and had noticed it's been better on the chemo. Thought it was because my scalp was getting rinsed nice and thouroughly due to lack of hair, but maybe it's the chemo.

trigeek

Hey nash I also have Lobular wonder if psoriasis and lobular are linked after all psoriasis is also uncontrolled fast growth of cells on the skin right.

nash

Trigeek--I did a quick google search on psoriasis and cancer, and found two interesting things. The first was a study on a connection between something called mast cells and cancer/psoriasis. I can't post links with my browser, but the url is http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51555.php

The other interesting thing was that in some very severe psoriasis cases, they use cytoxan (in an oral form), which happens to be one of the chemos I'm currently on. Who knew?

And in general, it makes sense that psoriasis would clear up on chemo in general, since as you said, it's made up of fast dividing cells. 

Well, chemo has to have some perks, right?

Barbara1

wouldn't you know.......the glass is half full!!!  

wishiwere

This is surely interesting! I was diagnosed with psoriasis at age 15 or so.  Treated with sun lamps and a real snotty lotion (cetaphil maybe?).  It never got rid of it and persist worse during the winter, nearly disappearing with sunlight exposure during the summers.

I just started A/C chemo, Dec 5th, and you've all got me interested in IF this will be a side effect of chemo!  Wouldn't that be a great side effect?  Is there anyone out there who had this effect some time ago and hasn't had it return after treatment ended? 

trigeek

Darn.. they came back while I was on Taxol, guess Cytoxan is used to treat psoriasis but the effect was temporary.. bummer !!!

sherryw

I never had psoriasis until about 6 months ago (3 yrs after bc dx) I was wondering if I got psoriasis from the whole chemo, herceptin and arimidex treatments.  What do you girls think about that, do you think that is possible or just think I was going to get it anyway.

Also what do you find as an effective treatment for scalp psoriasis that is the only place I have it.  The dermatologist gave me a cream to put on it was it is really icky.  I wish I could just stop itching.

thanks

sherry

wishiwere

I have a very light case of it (psoriasis) that is.  The derm that treated said he'd never seen such a light case.  Never had it on my head that I know of, then again, I use 'prell' which I know many don't use ever.  I've tried other shampoos over the years, and they make my head itch.  After a couple days back with this prell, I'm good to go.  Not sure why, but I even had a break out after I started losing my hair with acne from the A/C, and they said to use baby shampoo!  HA!  That's when i broke out.  I switched back to prell and it's finally clearing up and not itching any more. 

Just my thoughts, but I think you were probably just destined to get later in life.  Any older family memebers have it?

wishiwere

Wondering how everyone's psoriasis is doing after chemo?  Mine cleared right up, and now it lighter than it's ever been since 40 years ago! YEAH!  Only thing is....about a week after the #4 A/C, my hands broke out in Palmer/Plantar Psoriasis.  Ugly as anything I've ever seen.  Had to cover my hands so I did NOT have to look at them.  Got some 5% coritsone and it worked great.  Now when I get ONE, I start using it and it's stops and dries up.  Great stuff.

I have done a lot of reading on it and it they use some chemos for extreme cases where it gets into the joints and causing problems with cracking and bleeding, but the weird thing?  I also read that this PPP can be caused or brought on in people with a psoriasis in their history when they got off steriods.  SO?  Maybe it's the steriods with the chemo that causes it to go away and then come back in another form? 

Anyway...just wondering how everyone's else is doing, now months later?

trigeek

Well I had ac then taxol, and the psoriasis came back really bad after about a month. It did settle down though back to pre-chemo state now.

Thought something good actually could come out of this crap.. nada !

wishiwere

Sorry, I was hoping maybe it would stay away   Mine has always been really light, but is now even lighter, so for that I'm glad.  The hand thing seems controllable to keeping it away with the 5% stuff, so that's good, but dang I hate to think it will get worse down the road.  It was nasty!  Even my onco was grossed out!   Of course, I don't think he's a hands-on sort of doc anyway...he's one of those 'light' hand-shakers that drive me batty!

trigeek

Thought I would dig up this thread cause I have an interesting development that I will post to the natural/alternative thread too.

I participated in the breast cancer iodine research project ( www.breastcancerchoices.org) that is researching whether there is a relation between iodine deficiency and bc. So it turned out that my body does not absorb iodine it just passes through me. So for about 6 weeks I have been on a heavy dose of iodoral and ATP cofactor and 2-3 weeks into my regimen the psoriasis( which was really taking over the scalp area.. and getting nasty at elbows and legs) started disappearing.

So.... another link ? BC, Iodine, Psoriasis.. I read that iodine deficiency does lead to dry skin, flaky nails and stuff so maybe iodine deficiency lead to my skin being very dry.. and psoriasis took over ? Dang if that is the case my whole teenage childhood traumas were totally needless ! ( I had pretty severe case of it covered from head to toe.. only my face and hands were spared)

D4Hope

When I had chemo the psoriasis on my elbows disapeared and has not come back. I do still have on my scalp and in my nails. I have also developed psoriatic arthritis.

slv58

I asked my MO about my arthritis, as I had almost no pain while on chemo. She told me that was a beneficial side effect of the steroids I was taking during chemo, but unfortunately when I finished treatment (with steroids) my arthritis would return. Maybe it's the steroids temporarily treating the psoriasis? Sad to say she was right about my arthritis.

auntienance

I don't have psoriasis but I do have eczema and skin that's very prone to breakouts. During chemo, my skin was wonderful, the best it's been since I was a young woman (I'm 65 now). I had no eczema, flakiness, rosacea or bumpy skin. Of course, I had no eyebrows or eyelashes either, but I guess you win some, you lose some.