aetiology
Last reviewed 01/2018
Keratoacanthoma has been linked with a number of aetiological agents:
- sun exposure
- chemical carcinogens e.g. hydrocarbons:
- pitch
- tar
- smoking: higher incidence in smokers
- mechanical trauma, possibly in skin 'primed' eg. by chronic irritation from eczema or seborrhoeic dermatitis
- genetic:
- familial clustering but may be a result of exposure to similar environmental factors
- case reports of unilateral familial clustering
- virus:
- human papillomavirus frequently isolated
- however, some tumours have no demonstrable viral presence
- immunodeficiency:
- weak association
- multiple lesions