title: An 11-year review of dermatomyositis in Asian patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dermatomyositis (DM) is a multisystem inflammatory disease with a strong association with malignancy. We aimed to describe a series of Asian patients with DM and identify any significant clinical factors associated with malignancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective review of a multi-racial cohort of 69 Asian patients diagnosed with DM over an 11-year period from 1996 to 2006.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Malignancy was detected in 15 out of 68 patients (22%), the most common of which was nasopharyngeal carcinoma (7 cases). Compared to the non-malignancy group, the malignancy-associated group was older and had more male patients. There were no statistically significant clinical, serological or laboratory factors associated with a higher risk of malignancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study highlights the importance of ongoing malignancy screening especially for nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Asian patients with DM.
authors.affiliation: National Skin Centre, Singapore.
authors.forename: Wen Chun
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Madeline
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Woon-Puay
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Audrey W H
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Patricia P L
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Ng
authors.forename: Sze Hon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: Suat Hoon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Mark B Y
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003882:Dermatomyositis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018908:Muscle Weakness; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010257:Paraneoplastic Syndromes / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult