While amyloidosis in not a type of cancer, it is a very serious and life threatening disorder.

Amyloidosis of the skin is called cutaneous amyloidosis. In this condition, amyloid or amyloid-like proteins are deposited in the dermis layer of skin. Amyloidosis can be classified according to its cause: primary, secondary and familial. There are two more subclassifications according to degree of severity: localised and systemic. Amyloidosis may be either primary (plasma cell neoplasm) or secondary (caused by a long standing infection or another disease or some types of cancer). Generally, primary amyloidosis affects the nerves, skin, tongue, joints, heart, and liver; secondary amyloidosis often affects the spleen, kidneys, liver, and adrenal glands.

Amyloidosis may also have features of Sjogren syndrome, attributed to direct dermal infiltration. Amyloidosis results from the deposition of insoluble, fibrous amyloid proteins, nearly always in the extracellular spaces of organs and tissues. The most common form of systemic amyloidosis seen in current clinical practice is AL (primary idiopathic amyloidosis, or that associated with multiple myeloma) resulting from fibril formation by monoclonal antibody light chains in primary amyloidosis and in some cases of multiple myeloma. Amyloidosis can affect blood clotting, so symptoms may include abnormal bleeding or bruising. Hereditary amyloidosis almost always affects the nervous system.