melanoma,

p16 is a tumor suppressor encoded by the CDKN2A gene whose expression is lost in ~50% of all human cancers. In its canonical role, p16 inhibits the G1-S phase cell cycle progression through suppression of cyclin dependent kinases. Interestingly, p16 also has roles in metabolic reprogramming, and we previously published that loss of p16 promotes nucleotide synthesis via the pentose phosphate pathway. However, the broader impact of p16/CDKN2A loss on other nucleotide metabolic pathways and potential therapeutic targets remains unexplored...

A number of studies have indicated that the mitotic rate may be a predictive factor for poor prognosis in melanoma patients. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the mitotic rate is associated with other prognostic clinical and anatomopathological characteristics. After adjusting for other anatomopathological characteristics, we then verified the prognostic value of the number of mitoses, determining in which population subgroup this variable may have greater prognostic significance on 3-year mortality...

PURPOSE: Immunotherapy has been shown to improve cancer survival, but there are no consensus guidelines to inform use in patients with both cancer and autoimmune disease (AD). We sought to examine immunotherapy utilization patterns between cancer patients with and without AD. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study utilized data from a de-identified nationwide oncology database. Patients diagnosed with advanced melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, and renal cell carcinoma were included...

Lifileucel (AMTAGVI™), a one-time autologous T cell therapy derived and expanded from tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) from a patient's own tumour, is being developed by Iovance Biotherapeutics, Inc. for the treatment of cancer. Lifileucel was granted accelerated approval based on objective response rate (ORR) in February 2024 in the USA for use in adult patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma previously treated with a PD-1 blocking antibody, and if BRAF V600 mutation positive, a BRAF inhibitor with or without a MEK inhibitor...

Recent years have seen rising mortality rates linked to cutaneous melanoma (SKCM), despite advances in immunotherapy. Understanding RNA N6-methyladenosine (M6A) significance in SKCM is crucial for prognosis, tumor microenvironment (TME), immune cell presence, and immunotherapy efficacy. We analyzed 23 M6A regulators using SKCM samples from TCGA and GEO databases, identifying three M6A modification patterns linked to TME cell infiltration. Principal component analysis (PCA) yielded an M6A score for individual tumors, utilizing patient gene expression profiles and CNV data from TCGA...

BACKGROUND: Melanoma patients present a high risk of developing extra cutaneous metastases. PET-CT is one of the preferred examinations for the staging of oncological patients. It is not the method of choice to detect brain metastases, but this technique has shown significant improvement and allows the detection of some of them, although it is unclear how it performs compared to the MRI, the current gold standard for diagnosing brain metastases. OBJECTIVE: To compare the accuracy of PET-CT and cerebral MRI to detect brain metastases in melanoma patients...

Non-invasive diagnostics like line-field confocal optical coherence tomography (LC-OCT) are being implemented in dermato-oncology. However, unification of terminology in LC-OCT is lacking. By reviewing the LC-OCT literature in the field of dermato-oncology, this study aimed to develop a unified terminological glossary integrated with traditional histopathology. A PRISMA-guided literature-search was conducted for English-language publications on LC-OCT of actinic keratosis (AK), keratinocyte carcinoma (KC), and malignant melanoma (MM)...

Metastatic melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer with high mortality and recurrence rates. Despite the clinical success of recent immunotherapy approaches, prevailing resistance rates necessitate the continued development of novel therapeutic options. Photoimmunotherapy (PIT) is emerging as a promising immunotherapy strategy that uses photodynamic therapy (PDT) to unleash systemic immune responses against tumor sites while maintaining the superior tumor-specificity and minimally invasive nature of traditional PDT...

In 2023, several significant discoveries on the function of microRNAs in the immune system were reported. Here we discuss several notable papers that revealed important functions in T cells.

The Terminalia catappa L. tree is an ornamental and shade tree producter of a large amount of biological waste sent to landfills. Therefore, this plant constitutes so-called municipal solid wood waste (MSWW), which causes undesirable impacts on the environment, such as the generation of methane through the action of microorganisms. Sustainable solutions for the proper use and disposal of MSWW are a topic that has assumed great relevance at present due to the high quantities of MSWW generated worldwide. Pyrolysis constitutes an attractive alternative for the sustainable use of MSWW to produce higher value-added products...

Dermoscopy is widely used for the diagnosis of skin cancer and it increases the accuracy of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) detection. BCC dermoscopic criteria have been updated and divided into vascular, pigment-related, and non-vascular/non-pigment-related. Our multicenter retrospective study tested a new dermoscopic pigment-related characteristic to detect pigmented BCC (pBCC) [brown homogeneous blotches (BHB)]. Cases of pBCC were collected from the databases of IDI-IRCCS of Rome and from three Italian private dermatology centers...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is a non-melanoma skin cancer whose lesions mostly arise on light-exposed sites. Patients with compromised immunity, Fitzpatrick I or II skin phototype, and previous burn scars or radiations are more at risk of developing it. The treatment of choice for cSCC is surgery; however nonsurgical options are generally reserved for patients who refuse a very invasive treatment or cannot tolerate a surgical procedure. We report a case of cSCC successfully treated with intralesional methotrexate...

Transcriptional programs governed by YAP play key roles in conferring resistance to various molecular-targeted anticancer agents. Strategies aimed at inhibiting YAP activity have garnered substantial interest as a means to overcome drug resistance. However, despite extensive research into the canonical Hippo-YAP pathway, few clinical agents are currently available to counteract YAP-associated drug resistance. Here, we present a novel mechanism of YAP stability regulation by MAP3K3 that is independent of Hippo kinases...

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the most frequent form of thyroid cancer. PTC commonly presents with mutations of the serine/threonine kinase BRAF (BRAFV600E ), which drive ERK1/2 pathway activation to support growth and suppress apoptosis. PTC patients often undergo surgical resection; however, since the average age of PTC patients is under 50, adverse effects associated with prolonged maintenance therapy following total thyroidectomy are a concern. The development of mutant-selective BRAF inhibitors (BRAFi), like vemurafenib, has been efficacious in patients with metastatic melanoma, but the response rate is low for mutant BRAF PTC patients...

OBJECTIVE: To report 5-year efficacy and safety of upadacitinib in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from the phase 3 long-term extension (LTE) of SELECT-NEXT. METHODS: Patients on stable conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs were randomized to upadacitinib 15 mg, upadacitinib 30 mg once daily (UPA15/30), or placebo for 12 weeks. Following this, placebo-randomized patients were switched to UPA15 or UPA30 in the LTE; upadacitinib-randomized patients continued their original dose...

Mass spectrometry (MS)-based single-cell proteomics (SCP) provides us the opportunity to unbiasedly explore biological variability within cells without the limitation of antibody availability. This field is rapidly developed with the main focuses on instrument advancement, sample preparation refinement, and signal boosting methods; however, the optimal data processing and analysis are rarely investigated which holds an arduous challenge because of the high proportion of missing values and batch effect. Here, we introduced a quantification quality control to intensify the identification of differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) by considering both within and across SCP data...

The SWOG S1801 trial investigated the role of pembrolizumab, an anti-PD1 immune checkpoint inhibitor, in the perioperative setting of stage III or IV melanoma. This phase 2 trial compared two groups: one receiving pembrolizumab both before and after surgery (neoadjuvant-adjuvant), and another receiving it only post-surgery (adjuvant-only), with event-free survival (EFS) as the primary endpoint. Neoadjuvant strategies, involving pre-surgical drug administration, potentially offer rapid tumor control and a unique opportunity to assess tumor response...

This study outlines a 2-week laboratory module for an authentic cell biology undergraduate research experience that uses zebrafish ( Danio rerio ), a popular model organism for research. Previous research has indicated that course-based undergraduate research experiences such as this one increase student confidence, active learning, and retention. During this research experience, students investigate variations in pigmentation in the caudal fins of wild type (WT) and transgenic fish [ Tg(mitfa:GNAQQ209L )]...

Melanoma-associated leptomeningeal disease (M-LMD) occurs when circulating tumor cells (CTCs) enter into the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and colonize the meninges, the membrane layers that protect the brain and the spinal cord. Once established, the prognosis for M-LMD patients is dismal, with overall survival ranging from weeks to months. This is primarily due to a paucity in our understanding of the disease and, as a consequence, the availability of effective treatment options. Defining the underlying biology of M-LMD will significantly improve the ability to adapt available therapies for M-LMD treatment or design novel inhibitors for this universally fatal disease...