Just curious, does anyone have white patches on skin?

[mamacze]

I am just curious; but I wonder if anyone else has white patches on your skin (called "vitiligo")...I developed it along with my breast cancer; white patches under both arms; and on the side of the breast with the cancer. Also a few faint patches on my face and on my shins...all very itchy. When I started Herceptin, the white patches stopped spreading and some are now diminishing. My Seattle docs wonder if it is my immune system responding to the her2 in my skin and I wondered if anyone else experienced the same thing?

Kim from CT

[al from Canada]

Kim,

Linda has had skin changes everywhere, both white and dark spots, since starting chemo. Some changes may be due to the chemo acting on pre-cancerous cells (sun spots), others due to aging etc. If you are concerned about any of these spots, see your doctor. I read that breast cancer patients have a much higher suscepability to melanoma than the general population. Don't fall asleep at the wheel!!


Take care,
Al

[mamacze]

Hi Al,
As usual I am grateful for your insight; I did have a dermotologist check it out; and he confirmed vitiligo (autoimmune disorder, where there is a loss of melanocytes in the skin). All the docs are curious about it as it is most prominent around the area where my lumpectomys were. the general physician consensus seems to be that it is my immune system hyperreacting to the Her 2 that occurs normally in my skin. That is what got my curiousity peaked; wondering if any one else is experiencing the same thing...
love Kim

[StephN]

Hi Kim -
I guess the main thing is that it is not "life threatening!"

No, I have not heard of that one. I do know that our immune systems do all sorts of crazy things like mine is doing with my "unspecified connective tissue disorder" that came about some time after I had finished all my rounds of chemos.

The small white spots I have are common - sort of the opposite of freckles where there is a loss of pigment in the skin from aging.

Maybe you are "one for the books" with this syndrome!
What do you use to cut down the itching?