I have vitiligo. Being a pale person it doesn't show up except in the summer when my skin tans a bit.
Everyone has heard that melanin is the body's defense against too much UV exposure. Once during a visit with my dermatologist I asked if there was a connect between having vitiligo and increased skin cancer, expecting her to say yes. Instead she reacted as if I had asked a complete non sequitur. I had to make explicit my chain of reasoning (vitiligo means areas with no melanin production, meaning more UV damage, meaning more chance of skin cancer) and she half-heartedly told me no, she had never heard of such a thing.
It seems like there should be an obvious connection, but apparently not. It made me question whether she was just incurious or if there really is that loose of a connection between UV and skin cancer. BTW I've had two patches of skin cancer removed by this doctor, both on my neck/shoulder area, which is not affected by my vitiligo.
It depends on the doctor. I know some who keep up with stuff, and some who don't and just rake in the cash.
It's worth making friends with the ones who keep up with stuff. Doctors like to party but they're so fucking overworked that they hit you up at like 11pm most of the time.
I also have vitiligo. Vitiligo sufferers have overall significantly lower rates of skin cancer. While the reason is unknown, in my mind the connection between "immune system aggressively attacks skin cells" and "less skin cancer" makes sense.
Although the SIRs of melanoma, cancers of oral cavity, hepatoma and lymphoma were also increased in vitiligo patients, the significance was lost after correction for multiple testing. No specific cancer occurred less frequently in vitiligo patients than in the general population.
Everyone has heard that melanin is the body's defense against too much UV exposure. Once during a visit with my dermatologist I asked if there was a connect between having vitiligo and increased skin cancer, expecting her to say yes. Instead she reacted as if I had asked a complete non sequitur. I had to make explicit my chain of reasoning (vitiligo means areas with no melanin production, meaning more UV damage, meaning more chance of skin cancer) and she half-heartedly told me no, she had never heard of such a thing.
It seems like there should be an obvious connection, but apparently not. It made me question whether she was just incurious or if there really is that loose of a connection between UV and skin cancer. BTW I've had two patches of skin cancer removed by this doctor, both on my neck/shoulder area, which is not affected by my vitiligo.