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The sign of Leser–Trélat (LT) is defined as the sudden eruption of multiple seborrhoeic keratoses (SKs), or increase in the number and size of existing SKs, associated with an underlying malignancy. A 75-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with dyspnoea and multiple verrucous papules that had been developing gradually over the previous 30 years. During the 3 months before presentation, the number of SKs on his chest and back had increased rapidly. A diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was made based on results of computed tomography, endoscopy and biopsy examinations. The patient is receiving radiotherapy at present. To our knowledge, this is the first case of the Leser–Trélat sign associated with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an autoimmune disease mediated by autoantibodies against hemidesmosome components. This study used PCR–sequence-specific primers to genotype polymorphisms in HLA-DR and DQ in 25 BP patients and 57 normal controls from northern China. We found lower frequencies of DRB1*08 (DR8) and DRB1*08/DQB1*06 (DR8/DQ6) haplotypes in BP patients than in controls (4.08% vs. 15.19% and 1.54% vs. 13.82%, respectively; P < 0.05), suggesting a protective role for DR8 and DR8/DQ6 haplotypes in BP patients from northern China; there were no statistical differences among other alleles tested. This result is strikingly different from previous reports that DQB1*0301 is associated with BP in Caucasian patients and DRB1*1101, DQB1*0302, DRB1*04/DQA1*0301/DQB1*0302 and DRB1*1101/ DQA1*0505/DQB1*0302 with Japanese BP patients. Ethnic differences in the polymorphic composition of the HLA-DR and DQ genes may influence genetic susceptibility to BP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]