Sporotrichosis, a fungal disease, is caused by exposure to soil that harbors Sporothrix schenckii or through inhalation of fungal spores. Skin is the most frequently exposed organ making sporotrichosis a primarily dermal disease. Many described reports in the literature suggest a connection of sporotrichosis with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma with some connection between initial sporotrichosis diagnosis and treatment followed by development of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma at the very site. Conversely, there is also evidence for sporotrichosis subsequent to skin cancer diagnosis, even after cancer chemotherapy, which points towards weakening of immune response by cancer chemotherapy leading to attack and infection by Sporothrix schenckii. We also propose and focus on inflammation as the connection between sporotrichosis, cancer and even the metastatic spread of cancer. Inflammation-associated IL-6, IFN-γ, natural killer cells and M2-macrophages possibly mechanistically link sporotrichosis with cancer, particularly cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. These inflammation related factors/cells are regulated epigenetically raising the possibility of epigenetic regulation of sporotrichosis, which has not been described yet in the available literature. Clinical management of inflammation may thus be effective strategy not just against sporotrichosis but also the related onset of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and possibly its metastasis to lymph nodes.
Keywords: Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma; Diagnosis; Inflammation; Metastasis; Sporotrichosis.
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