[Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) with dermatomyositis--an analysis of 30 cases]

Dermatomyositis with malignant tumor is rare in China. The incidence reported abroad was about 7-34%. Before 1982, only 51 cases were collected from the Chinese medical literatures comprising 20.3% (51/251) of patients with dermatomyositis. In 40 (78%) out of 51 patients with co-existing dermatomyositis and malignant tumors, it was NPC. During the period of 1964-1982, in Zhongshan Medical College Tumor Hospital, 30 cases (0.023%) of dermatomyositis complicated with NPC were collected from 127,900 cancer patients. In the 30 cases, 21 (70%) were over the age of 40. In Guangdong province, dermatomyositis with NPC was most frequent in cases of dermatomyositis with malignant tumor (40/44, 91%). The symptom of dermatomyositis occurred prior to that of NPC by eight months. Its disappearance was positively correlated to that of the tumor. The downward invasion of lymph nodes was dominant in dermatomyositis with NPC (28/30, 93.4%). The 5 year survival rate of dermatomyositis with NPC treated by radiation was 16.7% (4/24) which was lower than that of patients without dermatomyositis in the same period.