Life-threatening paraneoplastic cutaneous syndromes

Paraneoplastic syndromes are diseases or symptom complexes associated with malignancy, usually internal. In dermatology, we modify the definition to refer to dermatoses associated with internal malignancy. In this article, we discuss the link between malignancy and such dermatologic disorders as acanthosis nigricans, acrokeratosis paraneoplastica of Bazex, dermatomyositis, erythema gyratum repens, necrolytic migratory erythema (glucagonoma syndrome), and paraneoplastic pemphigus and discuss, where such information is known, the mechanism by which these paraneoplastic diseases occur.