Acquired trichomegaly and hypertrichosis in metastatic adenocarcinoma

We report the case of a non-HIV patient suffering from a metastatic renal adenocarcinoma who developed trichomegaly 3 months before death. The patient also developed generalized hypertrichosis of the terminal hair, a feature that has been previously described in malnutrition. Other cases of hypertrichosis, including ectopic hormone production, were excluded and the differential diagnosis with paraneoplastic acquired hypertrichosis lanuginosa is discussed. Although trichomegaly is usually considered as a cutaneous marker of AIDS, we suggest that both trichomegaly and hypertrichosis of the terminal hair were secondary to malnutrition.