Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 16, 2016; 4(12): 390-400
Published online Dec 16, 2016. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v4.i12.390
Paclitaxel-associated reticulate hyperpigmentation: Report and review of chemotherapy-induced reticulate hyperpigmentation
Philip R Cohen
Philip R Cohen, Department of Dermatology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA 92131-3643, United States
Author contributions: Cohen PR designed the report, performed the research, collected the patient’s clinical data, analyzed the data, and wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the University of California San Diego Institutional Review Board.
Informed consent statement: The study participant provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Philip R Cohen has no conflicts of interest. He has received no fees for serving as a speaker, a consultant or an advisory board member. Philip R Cohen has received no research funding. Philip R Cohen is an employee of the University of California San Diego. Philip R Cohen owns no stocks or shares in any organization. Philip R Cohen owns no patents.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Philip R Cohen, MD, Department of Dermatology, University of California San Diego, 10991 Twinleaf Court, San Diego, CA 92131-3643, United States. mitehead@gmail.com
Telephone: +1-858-6578322
Received: June 26, 2016
Peer-review started: June 29, 2016
First decision: September 5, 2016
Revised: September 26, 2016
Accepted: October 22, 2016
Article in press: October 24, 2016
Published online: December 16, 2016
Processing time: 164 Days and 8.2 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Chemotherapy-induced reticulate hyperpigmentation has been described in four men and six women being treated for either a hematologic malignancy or a solid tumor. Associated drugs included cytoxan (with or without idarubicin), paclitaxel, 5-fluorouracil and bleomycin. The skin lesions were usually asymptomatic and appeared as linear macular hyperpigmention that was lacy, net-like, or both on the patient’s back. The hyperpigmentation appeared within 3 d to 18 wk after starting the drug and faded within 2 to 6 mo after stopping the medication. Chemotherapy-induced reticulate hyperpigmentation did not require dose reduction or discontinuation of the associated antineoplastic treatment.