Skin Cancer Research Articles

Encapsulation of soybean lunasin and amaranth unsaponifiable matter in liposomes induces cell cycle arrest in an allograft melanoma mouse model.

Melanoma is the most aggressive type of skin cancer and can metastasize during primary tumor formation. This research aimed to determine the relationship between the prevention of melanoma development in a mouse model treated with liposomes loaded with soybean lunasin and amaranth unsaponifiable matter (UM + LunLip) and cell cycle arrest. Tumors excised from C57BL/6 mice treated topically or subcutaneously with UM + LunLip were subjected to immunohistochemistry. Markers related to cell cycle inhibition (p16, p21, p27, and p53) and markers involved in cell cycle progression (cyclin-dependent kinase, CDK6, and cyclin D1) were assessed. The results showed that UM + LunLip had antitumor activity in C57BL/6 mice treated either topically or subcutaneously by p16, p21, p27, and p53 overexpression (up to 572-, 134-, 30-, and 57-fold change, FC, respectively) in the tumors of mice treated with 30mg UM + LunLip/kg body weight compared with the tumor-bearing untreated control. However, CDK6 and cyclin D1 expression was not inhibited (up to 1.37 FC and 2.09 FC, respectively), which is a typical behavior of cyclin D in melanoma. Therefore, melanoma tumor development was prevented by the overexpression of cell cycle inhibitors p16, p21, p27, and p53 due to UM + LunLip treatments. Since the topical application was effective, less invasive, and more practical for the user, this application will be recommended for future steps in in vivo studies.

Double-Condensing Attention Condenser: Leveraging Attention in Deep Learning to Detect Skin Cancer from Skin Lesion Images

Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States and is estimated to affect one in five Americans. Recent advances have demonstrated strong performance on skin cancer detection, as exemplified by state of the art performance in the SIIM-ISIC Melanoma Classification Challenge; however, these solutions leverage ensembles of complex deep neural architectures requiring immense storage and computation costs, and therefore may not be tractable. A recent movement for TinyML applications is integrating Double-Condensing Attention Condensers (DC-AC) into a self-attention neural network backbone architecture to allow for faster and more efficient computation. This paper explores leveraging an efficient self-attention structure to detect skin cancer in skin lesion images and introduces a deep neural network design with DC-AC customized for skin cancer detection from skin lesion images. We demonstrate that our approach with only 1.6 million parameters and 0.32 GFLOPs achieves better performance compared to traditional architecture designs as it obtains an area under the ROC curve of 0.90 on the public ISIC 2020 test set and 0.89 on the private ISIC test set, over 0.13 above the best Cancer-Net SCa network architecture design. The final model is publicly available as a part of a global open-source initiative dedicated to accelerating advancement in machine learning to aid clinicians in the fight against cancer. Future work of this research includes iterating on the design of the selected network architecture and refining the approach to generalize to other forms of cancer.

MalenoCare - Skin Cancer Detection and Prescription using CNN and ML

Machine learning (ML) and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have driven significant advancements in healthcare, particularly in dermatology, by enabling the automation of diagnostic processes for skin cancer. Skin cancer, being one of the most common types of cancer, requires early detection and accurate classification to improve patient outcomes and reduce mortality rates. This review paper explores various studies and CNN-based tools that enhance skin cancer detection and support preventive care through image analysis. The paper also discusses the effectiveness of different CNN architectures, including VGG16, ResNet, and Inception, in achieving high accuracy rates in skin lesion classification. A combination of recent research findings, model evaluation metrics, and graphical data highlights the accuracy, interpretability, and real-world applications of ML models, offering insights into their potential for integration into clinical practice.

Abstract 4147601: Associations between Accelerated Aging Phenotypes with Cancer-Specific and Cardiovascular-Specific Mortality in Long-Term Cancer Survivorship

Background: The consequences of cancer and anti-cancer treatments are often described as representing an “accelerated aging” phenotype. However, little is known about how the “accelerated aging” phenotype affects mortality risks in long-term cancer survivors. Purpose: To investigate the association between accelerated aging phenotype and cause-specific mortality in a sample of long-term cancer survivors Methods: Data for cancer survivors (CS) were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between the years 1999-2010. Participants missing vital data and those diagnosed with multiple cancers, childhood cancers, cancer within the previous 5 years, or skin cancer were excluded. Mortality outcomes were collected from the National Death Index through December 2019. The Phenotype Age score was derived from blood biochemistry measures such as albumin, creatinine, and c-reactive protein. Accelerated Aging (AA) was defined as a Phenotype Age greater than the participants’ chronological age. CS were grouped by time since diagnosis: 5-10, 10-15, 15-20, and ≥20 years. Within each group, hazard ratios (HR) were derived from competing-risk hazard regression for the AA phenotype association with cancer-specific and cardiovascular-specific mortality. Regressions were modeled with participant age as the time-scale to account for the predictive nature of chronological age. Results: A total of 875 CS (65.6±12.9 years, 62% female, 31% non-white, 15.6±9.4 years from cancer diagnosis) were included. The most common cancer types were prostate (16%) and breast (21%) cancer. There were 107 cancer and 113 cardiovascular deaths over a 10.8±4.6 year follow-up. The AA phenotype was significantly associated with cardiovascular-specific mortality in each survivor group (all p<0.05). Conversely, the AA phenotype was only significantly associated with cancer-specific mortality in the 5-10 years of survivorship group (p=0.01). Results are displayed in Figure 1, along with cubic splines fit to the HR of each survivorship group. Conclusions: Present results suggest that the AA phenotype may demonstrate time-dependent associations with cancer-specific and cardiovascular-specific risks, two leading causes of death in CS.

Abstract 4136040: Wearable Device-Measured Physical Activity and Incident Cardiovascular Diseases In Cancer Survivors

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is the leading cause of non-cancer mortality among cancer survivors. Despite the known benefits of physical activity on cardiovascular health in the general population, evidence regarding post-diagnosis physical activity and CVD risk among cancer survivors is limited. Objectives: To explore the associations of wearable device-measured moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) with CVD risk in long-term cancer survivors. Methods: The retrospective analysis involved a prospective cohort of 6109 cancer survivors without CVD from the UK Biobank accelerometry subsample. Cancer diagnoses were obtained from national cancer registries (International Classification of Diseases-10 [ICD-10], C00-C97, except for non-melanoma skin cancer, in situ, and non-well-defined cancers), and participants were followed up through December 31, 2022. A machine-learning algorithm was utilized to categorize MVPA into four groups based on guideline-recommend MVPA duration (0-75 min/week, 75-150 min/week, 150-300 min/week, ≥300 min/week). Results: Over a median follow-up of 7.88 years, there were 539 incident CVD events, including 361 incident CAD events, 155 incident HF events, and 109 incident stroke events. A clear inverse linear dose-response relationship between MVPA volume and the incidence of CVD was observed (P for nonlinear=0.49), with no maximal threshold for the benefits. Adjusted CVD incidence rates (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) across MVPA groups (0-75 min/week, 75-150 min/week, 150-300 min/week, ≥300 min/week) were 15.30 (12.90, 18.10), 13.50 (11.00, 16.40), 12.00 (10.20, 14.10), and 9.86 (8.35, 11.60) per 1000 person-years, respectively. Adjusted hazard ratios (95% CI) for CVD, CAD, HF, and stroke in the highest MVPA group (≥300 min/week) compared with those with the lowest MVPA group (0-75 min/week) were 0.63 (0.49, 0.80), 0.68 (0.51, 0.91), 0.66 (0.42,1.06), 0.72 (0.42, 1.23), respectively. Conclusions: Findings from the UK Biobank study suggest that longer durations of MVPA are associated with reduced incident CVD risk in cancer survivors, particularly in CAD risk reduction, underscoring the potential for physical activity to serve as a key component in cardio-oncology care.

Abstract 4147632: Unusually Expeditious Expansion of an Atrial Myxoma

Description of the Case Report: A 44-year-old female with a past medical history of unspecified skin cancer presented with exertional dyspnea for 1 day before admission and syncope 7 months before admission. Physical exam was noted for soft low low-pitched diastolic murmur at the cardiac apex, not appreciated on prior exam. Echocardiography revealed a 3.3x4.7 cm pedunculated, homogenous mass in the left atrium obstructing the mitral valve. Serum BNP was measured as 326. An echocardiogram from less than 29 months prior was reviewed and showed no mass in the left atrium. The patient underwent successful surgical resection of the mass. The mass measured approximately 7x6x2 cm. Histologic analysis reported a proliferation of myxoid stroma with cytologically bland spindle cells positive for calretinin, compatible with cardiac myxoma. Following the surgery, the patient experienced resolution of symptoms. Discussion: Atrial myxomas are the most common primary cardiac tumors. They present as mitral valve obstruction, mitral valve regurgitation, arrhythmias, or systemic thromboembolism. They are exceedingly rare with an incidence of 0.5 to 1 case per million individuals annually and typically resected immediately. Therefore, instances with well-documented growth rates are uncommon. In this case, we present an unusually fast-growing myxoma in a woman with shortness of breath and syncope. The reported growth rate of atrial myxomas ranges from 1.3 to 6.9 mm a month. Our patient had a negative echocardiogram less than 2.5 years before her presentation, followed by the development of a 7 x 6 x 2 cm mass. Since the onset is unknown, the precise growth rate of our patient's tumor is unknown but was at least 24 mm/month. It is important to consider myxoma in the differential diagnosis of a woman with new onset murmur and syncopal episode. Furthermore, recognizing the potential for rapid expansion is crucial to assessing the risks versus benefits of myxoma section.

Grading Melanocytic Dysplasia: Updated Histopathologic Criteria.

Dr. Martin C. Mihm, Jr.'s innovative work on the dysplastic nevus achieved a milestone in his chapter in the World Health Organisation Classification of Skin Tumours (WHO-C). WHO-C presents a dichotomous classification (high-grade versus low-grade dysplastic nevi) and a quantitative metric to assess melanocytic nuclear enlargement. The Duke classification is a related approach that provides mostly quantitative histopathologic criteria for dysplastic nevi and gives due weight to architectural features as well as cytology. This paper proposes and illustrates updated criteria for scoring and grading melanocytic dysplasia, incorporating some of the definitions and categories of WHO-C, while refining the quantitative and architectural elements of the Duke grading system to facilitate more detailed and precise assessment of dysplastic nevi.

Effect of gedunin on cell proliferation and apoptosis in skin melanoma cells A431 via the PI3K/JNK signaling pathway.

Melanoma is an aggressive skin malignancy with rapid metastasis and high morbidity. Gedunin (GN) is a tetranortriterpenoid belonging to the Meliaceae family, described for its anticancer, antiproliferative and apoptotic properties. In the present study, we investigated the effect of GN on A431 melanoma cell proliferation and apoptosis. The inflammatory proteins (tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB), cycloxygenase 2 (COX-2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and interleukin 6 (IL-6)) apoptosis-related proteins, such as Bax, Bcl-2 and caspase-3, and alterations in the PI3K/JNK and p38 pathways in A431 cells after GN treatment were examined. The cytotoxicity assay and cell apoptosis of GN activity on A431 cells were assessed using MTT assay, acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB), DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole), propidium iodide (PI), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and western blot analyses. The findings demonstrated that GN (10 and 15 μM/mL) inhibits the growth of melanoma cells, triggers apoptosis by enhancing Bax and caspase, and reduces Bcl-2, cyclin-D1, c-myc, and survivin in a concentration-reliant manner. Additionally, GN attenuated the protein expression of inflammatory proteins (TNF-α, NF-κB, COX-2, iNOS, and IL-6) and the cell proliferative PI3K/JNK/p38 signaling pathway. Due to the imbalance in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, apoptosis is promoted, and the caspase cascade and Cyt-c are activated. This led us to conclude that GN treatment inhibited Bcl-2, cyclin-D1, c-myc, and survivin activity through the TNF-α/NF-κB and PI3K/JNK/p38 signaling pathways, further preventing the proliferation and stimulation of apoptosis, which contributes to growth arrest in melanoma cells. Gedunin has been shown to promote melanoma cell death in vitro, suggesting that it could be used as a future treatment for malignant melanoma. Our findings suggested that GN might be applied as a preventative measure in the management of skin melanoma cells.

Top 50 Most Cited Articles in Transplant Dermatology: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Solid organ transplant recipients are at high risk for developing skin malignancies due to prolonged immunosuppression. The field of transplant dermatology (TD) has experienced a surge in research and clinical advancements, yet there is no quantitative evaluation estimating the impact of TD literature. Identify and characterize the most frequently cited TD articles. Institute For Scientific Information Web of Science was used to identify the 50 most cited research articles in TD. Results were reviewed by 3 independent authors. A network analysis was performed to assess collaboration patterns among coauthors. Top articles held a combined total of 12,114 citations. The top-cited article was "Cancer incidence before and after kidney transplantation," by Vajdic and colleagues in the Journal of the American Medical Association (2006) with 872 citations. A total of 22 countries and 221 institutions were represented. This bibliometric analysis offers a detailed overview of the most cited manuscripts in TD and illustrates the discoveries steering TD research and practice.

The Effect of Sun Knowledge and Self-Efficacy on Sun Protection Behavior in Skin Cancer Among Young People.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to reveal the impact of skin cancer and sun knowledge on sun protection behavior in young people. In addition, identifying predictors influencing sun protection behaviors in young people is also aimed. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 424 young people in Turkey. Data were collected using Skin Cancer and Sun Knowledge Scale, Self-Efficacy Scale for Sun Protection, and Sun Protection Behavior Scale. The independent samples t-test was used to determine differences between the mean scores of sociodemographic characteristics, Bonferroni-corrected one-way ANOVA was used to determine differences among three or more groups, and the relationship between scale score means was analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis. Factors influencing sun protection behavior were identified using multiple linear regression. Results: Of the young people, 43.4% use sunscreen continuously throughout the year, 10.10% go to solarium, and 25.7% perform self-examinations of their skin. In youth, high sun protection self-efficacy (β = 0.486), being female (β = 0.077), regular use of sunscreen throughout the year (β = 0.464), and avoiding tanning beds (β = 0.075) positively influence sun protection behavior scores. Spending more than 6 hours in the sun during the summer months (β= -0.118) negatively affects sun protection behavior. Conclusion: The level of skin cancer sun knowledge, sun protection self-efficacy, and sun protection behaviors of young people are moderate and there is a positive correlation among them. The study's findings indicate the necessity to increase awareness of skin cancer risk factors among young people and initiate effective interventions to promote sun protection behaviors.

DISP-01. FACTORS AFFECTING POST-ABLATION OUTCOMES AND TRIAL ENROLLMENT IN DIVERSE PATIENTS UNDERGOING LASER INTERSTITIAL THERMAL THERAPY

Abstract BACKGROUND Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) is a surgical treatment for progressive brain metastases (BM) following stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS). Although LITT has been increasingly accepted, little is known regarding factors influencing presentation and outcomes of patients with diverse backgrounds. METHODS Retrospective review of all patients receiving their index LITT treatment for BM at a single center from 2015 – 2023. Patient demographics and geospatial data was used to compare differences in receipt of LITT by race or ethnicity, survival outcomes, and clinical trial enrollment. RESULTS From 2015-2023, 137 patients presented for LITT to 146 intracranial lesions. One hundred and six patients (77.3%) were non-Hispanic White (NHW), while among Hispanic or non-White (HNW) patients, 25 (18.2%) were Black or African American, 5 (3.6%) were Asian American, and 1 (0.7%) was Hispanic/Latino. Among HNW patients, women more frequently received LITT (p = 0.022), with skin cancers being a more frequent indication among NHW patients (P = 0.019). NHW patients traveled a median of 62.0 (6.2 – 1045.9) miles to receive LITT vs 25.9 (1.31 – 238.3) miles for HNW patients (p = 0.001). Length of stay, discharge location, or readmission rates did not differ between groups. In multivariate analyses, probability of clinical trial enrollment was less among those of female sex (P = 0.049), HNW race/ethnicity (P = 0.041), or external referral status (P = 0.035), while post-LITT overall survival was predicted by pre-LITT KPS (P = 0.0007) and recurrent tumor on biopsy (P = 0.0002). CONCLUSIONS Differences in presentation for LITT by race or ethnicity may be influenced by underlying patient factors, including sex, systemic disease histology, and distance from a treating center, which do not influence post-LITT procedural outcomes or survival. Accordingly, clinical trial enrollment should be prioritized for vulnerable patient populations to realize the full benefits of laser ablation.

Frequent Occurrence of High-Risk Basal Cell Carcinoma in Xeroderma Pigmentosum: A Histopathological Insight From an Indian Cohort.

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is a genodermatosis, characterized both by premature aging and significantly increased risk of non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers at an early age. However, limited literature is available on the common histopathological subtypes of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) in these patients. In this ambispective case series, we recruited patients of XP who had either a currently present skin tumor or previously excised one, provided their histopathological sections were available. Cytogenetic analysis was performed in all the patients. The histopathological findings were recorded by two trained dermatopathologists. Of 22 recruited patients with XP, 12 patients had 41 BCCs, and 23 (56.09%) of them showed a high-risk histopathological subtype. Basosquamous carcinoma (10, 24.39%) was the most frequent high-risk tumor followed by infiltrative variant (7, 17.07%). Mixed-histopathological subtypes were noted in six (14.63%) cases, and all of them had a high-risk component. The low-risk subtypes included nodular (n = 17, 41.46%) and superficial BCC (1, 2.43%). Though a deep dermal involvement was seen in 27 (65.85%) lesions, none showed a perineural invasion or necrosis. Three (7.31%) lesions showed ulceration, while 10 (24.39%) showed presence of pigmentation. A frequent occurrence of high-risk basal cell carcinoma was noted in patients with XP-mandating creation of appropriate treatment and follow-up strategies in these patients.

TMET-34. PYROPTOSIS IS AN ACQUIRED VULNERABILITY OF BRAIN METASTASES

Abstract Metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from one part of the body to another, is a leading cause of death among cancer patients. Three particularly dangerous forms of metastases are the spread of lung, skin, and breast cancers to the brain. On average survival time of all brain metastasis (BM) patients is around 4 months, which is accompanied by a failing and undefined standard of care. We have strived to bridge the gap between novel safe therapeutics and brain metastasis patients by discovering and targeting metabolic vulnerabilities in brain metastases. Here, we conducted comparative metabolomic screening in patient-derived BM lines versus normal brain cells to identify dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) as a cancer-selective targetable vulnerability. DHODH is an essential enzyme that is located within the inner membrane of the mitochondria which has a primary role in producing pyrimidine metabolites through the de novo uridine synthesis pathway and also contributes to the proper functioning of the electron transport chain. Through this, DHODH has been implicated in the essential functioning of energy metabolism, DNA and RNA synthesis, and most recently in the modulation of the immune system. In our studies we have elucidated the significant effect DHODH inhibitors and the induction of DHODH CRISPR knock-out has against the cell viability, sphere formation, and proliferation of patient derived BM samples in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, through metabolomics we have discovered that following DHODH perturbation, there is a significant increase in a signaling lipid (D-ethryo-Dihydrosphingosine) that specifically inhibits Protein Kinase C (PKC) and initiates Gasdermin E (GSDME) mediated pyroptosis. By uncovering this mechanism we have discovered GSDME mediated pyroptosis is an aquired vulnerability of brain metastases. Overall, this study highlights the translational potential of DHODH inhibitors in BM and elucidates novel mechanistic underpinnings of nucleotide deprivation within the context of cell death.

Morphological and Optical Profiling of Melanocytes and SK-MEL-28 Melanoma Cells Via Digital Holographic Microscopy and Quantitative Phase Imaging.

Melanoma, which originates from pigment-producing melanocytes, is an aggressive and deadly skin cancer. Despite extensive research, its mechanisms of progression and metastasis remain unclear. This study uses quantitative phase imaging via digital holographic microscopy, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and t-distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE) to identify the morphological, optical, and behavioral differences between normal melanocytes and SK-MEL-28 melanoma cells. Our findings reveal significant differences in cell shape, size, and internal organization, with SK-MEL-28 cells displaying greater size variability, more polygonal shapes, and higher optical thickness. Phase shift parameters and surface roughness analyses underscore melanoma cells' uniform and predictable textures. Violin plots highlight the dynamic and varied migration of SK-MEL-28 cells, contrasting with the localized movement of melanocytes. Hierarchical clustering of correlation matrices provides further insights into complex morphological and optical relationships. Integrating label-free imaging with robust analytical methods enhances understanding of melanoma's aggressive behavior, supporting targeted therapies and highlighting potential biomarkers for precise melanoma diagnostics and treatment.

Characterisation and Sensitivity of a Canine Mast Cell Tumour Line to Oncolytic Viruses.

Canine mast cell tumours (MCTs) are one of the most common skin cancers of dogs. Surgical removal is the primary treatment, but recurrence and metastasis can occur even with low-grade tumours. As a result, new treatment strategies are being sought. We tested the potential of several oncolytic viruses (OVs) to infect and kill a cell line isolated from a canine MCT. Employing a resazurin-based metabolic assay and flow cytometry technology, we used recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV-Δm51), avian orthoavulavirus-1 (AOaV-1), and Orf viruses in our assessment. Our study aimed to evaluate the potential of oncolytic virotherapy in treating canine cancers. We found that MCT-1 cells showed different sensitivities to the OVs, with rVSV-Δm51 showing the most promising results invitro. These findings suggest that further investigation into using OVs for treating canine MCTs is needed, although clinical efficacy is yet to be determined.

ScSEETV‐Net: Spatial and Channel Squeeze‐Excitation and Edge Attention Guidance V‐Shaped Network for Skin Lesion Segmentation

Early detection of skin cancer ensures the survival of many cases. There are still challenges in segmenting dermoscopic skin lesion images. Artifacts in the lesion images, such as various dirt, hairs, low contrast, and unclear boundaries, are challenges that affect segmentation accuracy. Convolutional neural networks have brought success in skin lesion segmentation. U‐shaped and V‐shaped deep learning‐based segmentation architectures learn boundary information in the first layers. However, this information becomes weaker in the following layers. Herein, the Edge‐aTtention module is added to the V‐Net architecture to move edge information to the last layer, and the spatial and channel squeeze‐excitation module is added to emphasize high‐level features by recalibrating the channel information to learn lesion boundaries better. The scSEETV‐Net is supported by fusing the binary cross‐entropy, which calculates the loss on a pixel‐based, and the focal Twersky loss function, which has significant success in class imbalances. The proposed architecture achieves 0.9212 Jaccard and 0.9552 Dice in the ISIC2016 dataset, 0.8273 Jaccard and 0.8949 Dice in the ISIC2017 dataset, and 0.8070 Jaccard and 0.8831 Dice in the ISIC2018 dataset. Comparative analyses show that the proposed methodology outperforms the state‐of‐the‐art techniques in the literature.

Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumour in the Setting of a Rare Germline BAP1 Disease Causing Variant presenting as a Metastatic Melanoma Mimic.

A 47-year-old male presented with a 9-year history of a subcutaneous swelling on his right, his initial diagnosis was a stage IV metastatic melanoma deposit on the right wrist originating from a pT4a BAP1 inactivated primary melanoma on the back. Due to the unusual nature of the presentation further input from a specialist skin cancer multidisciplinary team with an interest in BAP1 tumour predisposition syndrome (BAP1-TPDS) led to a revised diagnosis of a Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumour (MPNST) on the wrist.

The Carcinogenesis of the Human Scalp: An Immunometabolic-Centered View

The human scalp is a common site of skin cancer in humans, with nonmelanoma skin cancer being exceedingly common. In this review, two dermatologists with extensive experience in cutaneous oncology will discuss unique features of the epidemiology of cancer of the scalp. Clinical observations on these common skin cancers lead to insight into the pathogenesis and potential prevention and treatment of cutaneous scalp neoplasia. Our hypothesis is that the presence of hair protects against the development of skin cancer but not by serving as a physical shield but rather by providing continuous IL-17-biased immunosurveillance. The loss of hair allows for a release from immunosurveillance, resulting in the expansion of neoplastic cells towards skin cancer. Both hair follicles and metabolic changes in stroma allow for permissiveness for tumor promotion.

Evaluation of skin cancer screening in Germany - a Microsimulation.

Comprehensive skin cancer screening was introduced in Germany in 2008. It is unclear whether subsequently observed changes in the epidemiology of malignant melanoma (MM), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) are due to the screening. Simulation models are used to compare different screening scenarios with each other and with observed incidence and mortality trends. A microsimulation model for MM, SCC, and BCC was programmed and validated separately by sex on skin cancer-specific mortality data. In addition to the currently practiced screening (biennial offer, annual participation probability 15%), triennial screening, screening with increased participation, e.g., via invitation, and no screening were simulated. Incidence, mortality, costs, and life-years gained were simulated for 30years from the start of screening. Compared with no screening, mortality is reduced by 13.8% in the simulation with current conditions. This effect occurs in the first years after screening starts before reaching a stable level. More screening allows for further increases in incidence, life-years gained, and costs and decreases in mortality. Comparing simulated and observed effects shows little agreement. The model is useful for comparing screening scenarios to identify potential optimization opportunities in SCS. Additional, especially risk-adapted, screening scenarios should be investigated.

In vitro, in vivo and in silico anticancer activity and toxicity of Usnic acid extracted from the mycobiont culture of Usneabaileyi.

Lichen has widespread uses in indigenous medicinal traditions, and it has been used to treat various conditions. Among the various active compounds in the lichen, Usnic acid has unique biological activities. However, the toxicology and the mechanism of action of Usnic acid need to be examined in detail to the extent of clinical trials. Hence, the present research is aimed to isolate usnic acid from the mycobiont culture of Usnea baileyi lichen and explore its toxicological properties and those of pharmacological importance. The methanolic extract of these mycobiont cultures has shown the presence of Usnic acid via column chromatography. The Usnic acid was computationally evaluated using molecular docking studies (GLIDE docking) and MMGBSA energy calculations. The results obtained from TLC, LC-MS, UV-VIS spectrophotometer, NMR spectroscopy (1H and 13c), and FT-IR indicated the presence of Usnic acid. An acute toxicity analysis by an in vivo study using a zebrafish animal model showed acute toxicity. The standard disc diffusion and DPPH assay suggested an antimicrobial and antioxidant activity with this lichen compound. The in vitro analysis of Usnic acid in G361 skin cancer cell lines demonstrated its anticancer potential against malignant melanoma. Furthermore, a molecular in silico study returned a good docking score of -7.977, and the MMGBSA free energy was measured as -18 and -30. Therefore, further extensive research on Usnic acid might lead to the development of novel anticancer drugs from the natural sources.