A study conducted at The Wistar Institute has led to the identification of a slowly proliferating and highly invasive melanoma cell subpopulation, characterized by production of a protein associated with invasive behavior.
The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) has awarded UT Southwestern researchers more than $34 million for cancer research and faculty recruitment, including support for programs in pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, breast cancer, and melanoma.
In a multi-institutional collaborative study, scientists at The Wistar Institute and the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, have identified the role of tumor-infiltrating or tumor-associated B-cells (“TABs”) in melanoma progression and resistance to targeted therapy.
As tick populations grow and spread across the country, their prevalence is increasing the public’s risk for some troubling diseases. Of these diseases, say dermatologists from the American Academy of Dermatology, Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Powassan virus and alpha-gal syndrome—a mysterious red meat allergy—are among the most serious.
A UCLA study has uncovered the mechanisms by which treatment-resistant melanoma become vulnerable to cessation of a class of drugs called MAP kinase (MAPK)-targeted inhibitors. By identifying these mechanisms, the scientists discovered that therapeutic benefits for patients could derive from a one-two punch of a drug holiday of MAPK inhibitors followed by a class of drugs called DNA repair inhibitors.
Lymphatic vessels, often blamed for enabling cancer cells to spread from a primary location to many other sites, have a flip side. A team of researchers found that in patients being treated with checkpoint inhibitors, lymphangiogenesis boosts the immune system’s primary anti-cancer tool, T cells, enabling them to infiltrate tumors and kill cancer cells.
The immunotherapy drug nivolumab is safer and more effective than ipilimumab—the current standard of care—in treating patients with resected stage III and stage IV melanoma.
A UCLA-led study of changes in gene activity in BRAF-mutated melanoma suggests these epigenomic alterations are not random but can explain how tumors are already developing resistance as they shrink in response to treatment with a powerful class of drugs called MAP kinase (MAPK)-targeted inhibitors.
Cancer immunotherapy drugs only work for a minority of patients, but a generic drug now used to increase blood flow may be able to improve those odds, a study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers suggests.
In new research, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have converted skin cells from healthy adults directly into motor neurons without going through a stem cell state. The technique makes it possible to study motor neurons of the human central nervous system in the lab. Unlike commonly studied mouse motor neurons, human motor neurons growing in the lab would be a new tool since researchers can’t take samples of these neurons from living people but can easily take skin samples.
Wistar scientists have described a correlation between a key melanoma signaling pathway and a novel class of drugs being tested in the clinic as adjuvant therapy for advanced melanoma, providing useful information for a more effective use of this type of treatment.
Researchers at the Bluestone Center for Clinical Research at NYU Dentistry have identified a novel molecular mechanism which explains why dark-skinned and light-skinned people respond differently to heat and mechanical stimulation.
The more the surface area of the body is covered by psoriasis, the greater the risk of death for the patient suffering from the condition, according to a new analysis by researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Patients with psoriasis on 10 percent or more of their body are at almost double the risk of death.
A study has found that less than one-third of melanomas arise from existing moles, while the vast majority appear on the skin as new spots. Additional research indicates that less than half of consumers look for broad-spectrum protection when choosing a sunscreen.
The Myositis Association (TMA) hosts their 2017 Annual Patient Conference September 7-10 at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina. With more than 80 presentations and nearly 500 myositis patients, friends, and family members in attendance, this conference promises to be the largest in TMA history.
The National Psoriasis Foundation has announced the winners of its Medical Professional Research Awards. Joel M. Gelfand, MD MSCE, a professor of Dermatology and Epidemiology, received the 2017 Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award. The award for Outstanding New Investigator went to Junko Takeshita, MD, PhD, MSCE, an assistant professor of Dermatology and Epidemiology.
UCLA researchers have discovered a new way to activate the stem cells in the hair follicle to make hair grow. The research, led by scientists Heather Christofk and William Lowry, may lead to new drugs that could promote hair growth for people with baldness or alopecia, which is hair loss associated with such factors as hormonal imbalance, stress, aging or chemotherapy treatment.
Cancer immunotherapies that block two different checkpoints on T cells launch immune attacks on cancer by expanding distinct types of T cell that infiltrate tumors, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report in the journal Cell.
UNC Lineberger scientists led a multi-institution research team to identify key features linked to amelanotic melanoma, a form of skin cancer that lacks the brown or black color that stems from the pigment melanin.
What do athlete’s foot, jock itch, and barber’s itch all have in common? They are all cases of ringworm, say dermatologists from the American Academy of Dermatology. However, despite its name, ringworm is a skin infection caused by a fungus, not a worm. It is very common, and your risk increases in hot, humid weather.
When Yale researchers took a closer look at skin cells, they discovered the unaffected neighbor cells are not helplessly awaiting invasion of cancer cells but acting like cellular police, actively correcting tissue flaws created by their aberrant neighbors, the investigators report Aug. 2 in the journal Nature.
Summer is in full stride, with people heading to beaches to soak up the sun. But there's more to that behavior than trying to get a good tan, says an epidemiology expert at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
A research team has overcome challenges that have limited gene therapy. They demonstrate how their novel approach with skin transplantation could enable a wide range of gene-based therapies to treat human diseases. The researchers provide “proof-of-concept,” treating mice with two common related human ailments: type-2 diabetes and obesity.
A research team led by Adam Friedman, MD, associate professor of dermatology at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences, has found that topically applied nitric oxide-releasing nanoparticles are a viable treatment for deep fungal infections of the skin caused by dermatophytes.
A Henry Ford Hospital study has shown that skin transplant surgery has long-term benefit for restoring skin pigmentation caused by the skin disease vitiligo.
In a retrospective study, researchers found that a majority of areas of the skin treated with surgery still had “very good to excellent” color match pigmentation five years later.
Although melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, it’s not the only form of skin cancer that can be deadly. Squamous cell carcinoma, a type of nonmelanoma skin cancer, is not only potentially fatal, but also more common than melanoma.
Patients who suspect they have a nail fungal infection should see a board-certified dermatologist, who can evaluate their condition and recommend an appropriate treatment.
All too frequently doctors are faced with the challenge of breaking bad news to patients. A new research study by Queen’s University Belfast suggests that techniques allowing medical students to ‘walk in the shoes’ of a patient may better prepare them as future doctors.
Why use regular sunscreen when you can apply a DNA film to your skin? Researchers at Binghamton University, State University of New York have developed a coating made out of DNA that gets better at protecting skin from Ultraviolet light the more you expose it to the sun, and it also keeps your skin hydrated.
The American Dermatological Association joins the American Academy of Ophthalmology in their recommendation for Shingles vaccines in appropriate patients over the age of 50.
The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology is the top peer-reviewed journal in its field, according to the most recent impact factor report from Thomson Reuters.
A boosting skin vaccination with a biodegradable microneedle patch and protein constructed from sequences of influenza virus subtypes could improve the effectiveness of conventional influenza vaccines, according to a study led by Georgia State University.
In a study well-timed for summer, vision scientists have found that eye freckles, dark spots on the colored part of the eye (iris), are more frequently found in people with higher lifetime exposure to sunlight. While not malignant, eye freckles could indicate the presence or risk of sunlight-triggered eye diseases like cataract or macular degeneration.
Many patients with melanoma need a sentinel-lymph-node biopsy to determine if cancer cells have spread there, but a positive finding doesn’t mean all the lymph nodes in the area must be removed, according to a new international study.
To paraphrase the classic poem, no hair is an island entire of itself. Instead, University of California, Irvine scientists have discovered that all hairs can communicate with each other and grow in coordination across the entire body. This is regulated by a single molecular mechanism that adjusts by skin region to ensure efficient hair growth – so no bald patches form – and enable distinct hair densities in different body areas.
While discussions on stewardship are often focused on fighting infection among the sickest patients, those aren’t the only people taking these drugs. Data from the CDC shows the average dermatology provider wrote 669 antibiotic prescriptions in 2014, the most recent year for which data are available. That is, by far, the highest average of any provider specialty. For some perspective, the next closest group was primary care physicians, who wrote an average of 483 prescriptions per provider. It begs the question of whether dermatology should be under the microscope when it comes to stewardship.
With summer in full swing, dermatologists from the American Academy of Dermatology are reminding everyone that people of all races and colors can develop skin cancer. Although people of color have a lower risk of developing skin cancer than Caucasians, when skin cancer develops in people of color, it is often diagnosed at a more advanced stage – making it more difficult to treat. The good news, say dermatologists, is that there is a lot people can do to protect their skin and reduce their risk of getting skin cancer, including melanoma, the deadliest form.
Known as drug-induced photosensitivity, the condition affects people taking prescribed medications and mimics intense sunburns with severe pain, skin peeling and blistering. People taking antibiotics and antidepressants are most at risk.
High doses of vitamin D taken one hour after sunburn significantly reduce skin redness, swelling, and inflammation, according to double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial out of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.
New multicenter research, which included Vanderbilt University Medical Center investigators, could change treatment approaches to simple skin abscesses, infections often caused by Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria.
It turns out your skin is crawling with single-celled microorganisms – ¬and they’re not just bacteria. A study by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the Medical University of Graz has found that the skin microbiome also contains archaea, a type of extreme-loving microbe, and that the amount of it varies with age.
The researchers discovered injecting potato virus particles into melanoma tumor sites activates an anti-tumor immune system response. And simultaneously injecting the nanoscale plant virus particles and a chemotherapy drug—doxorubicin—into tumor sites further helps halt tumor progression in mice.
It’s possible to alter the wettability of your skin using an ingredient commonly found in cosmetic cleaners, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.