Xeroderma pigmentosum

Main clinical features: Xeroderma pigmentosum is a rare, recessive disorder clinically characterized by extreme photosensitivity, pigmented abnormalities of the skin-exposed areas, and frequent ocular and neurological abnormalities. Xeroderma pigmentosum syndrome is associated with an estimated 2000-fold increase in the risk to develop skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma). A heterogeneous disease: Skin or blood cells from Xeroderma pigmentosum patients are hypersensitive to killing by ultraviolet and hypermutable after ultraviolet C treatment. Cell fusion experiments based on complementation of repair synthesis have recognized the presence of seven Xeroderma pigmentosum groups which exhibit various defects in the initial steps of the DNA nucleotide excision repair pathway. A variant Xeroderma pigmentosum form has been found to be normal in nucleotide excision repair but abnormal in a poorly to be normal in nucleotide excision repair but abnormal in a poorly understood postreplication repair process. Pathophysiology: The Xeroderma pigmentosum complementation groups differ in terms of severity of clinical, cellular and genetic features. Molecular and biochemical studies of the Xeroderma pigmentosum syndrome have led to a better understanding of the mechanisms of ultaviolet-induced sensitivity and the mechanism of cancer development after ultraviolet exposure.