Scleroderma is an autoimmune disorder classified as a rheumatologic disorder because it affects the body's connective tissues. The name comes from the Greek word skleros, meaning hard, and derma, meaning skin. The condition is marked by hard skin due to the build-up of scar-like tissue. Researchers have not found what causes scleroderma, but some are using chemotherapy to treat it.
Symptoms
Scleroderma's most consistent symptom is thickening or hardening of the skin. Patients may also experience swelling of the hands and feet, calcification spots on the skin, rigid joints, ulcers on the fingers or toes, and pain in the joints. Some patients also experience gastrointestinal symptoms, including heartburn, difficulty swallowing, constipation and weight loss. They may also have shortness of breath, persistent cough, fatigue and hair loss.
Forms
There are two types of scleroderma, localized and systemic. Localized affects only the skin and usually only in a few small places. Systemic scleroderma affects not only the skin but also internal systems including the digestive system, respiratory functions and kidneys. Systemic scleroderma can be life-threatening, causing organ damage.
Similarities: Scleroderma and Cancer
Scleroderma is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks itself. It exhibits a pro-inflammatory response and anti-DNA antibodies. Similarly, cancer cells grow by exploiting a pro-inflammatory situation, and the accumulation of these cells induces the production of anti-DNA antibodies. Although a direct link between autoimmune diseases and cancer has not been formed, the similarities encourage further research.
Effects of Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is often the treatment of choice for cancer patients. The drugs used in chemotherapy are administered in high doses to kill the abnormal, or cancerous, cells. Chemotherapy has proven successful in shrinking or eliminating tumors of cancer cells. However, chemotherapy cannot choose the cells it kills. Therefore many healthy immune system cells are also killed, causing serious side effects for patients. This non-selectiveness, however, can be advantageous to patients who also have autoimmune diseases.
Doctors have documented cases, including the case of a women treated with chemotherapy for her Hodgkin's Lymphoma, where the scleroderma went into remission following the treatment. These cases have prompted further studies on the effects of chemotherapy on scleroderma.
Clinical Study
More than 300,000 people in the United States suffer from scleroderma. In 2006, the University of Texas Medical School in Houston began conducting a clinical study to determine the long-term effects of chemotherapy in treating scleroderma. Preliminary findings are promising and the study is ongoing.
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