Combined treatment with pegylated interferon-alpha-2a and dacarbazine in patients with advanced metastatic melanoma: a phase 2 study.

Background: Dacarbazine (DTIC) and pegylated interferon (IFN)-alpha-2a have both demonstrated some efficacy as single agents in metastatic melanoma. To the authors' knowledge, the current study is the first to test a combination of these 2 agents in a phase 2 trial.

Methods: Twenty-eight patients with stage IV melanoma without brain metastases were treated with DTIC (at a dose of 850 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks) combined with weekly pegylated IFN-alpha-2a at a dose of 180 microg.

Elastosis colloidalis conglomerata (adult colloid milium, paracolloid of the skin): a maximal manifestation of actinic elastosis?

We report the case of a 50-year-old woman with multiple soft papules in the perioral region resistant to local corticosteroid and antibiotic therapies. Histology revealed elastosis colloidalis conglomerata. There were no hints for a deposition disease.

Absence of classical MAP kinase pathway signalling in Merkel cell carcinoma.

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a highly metastatic skin tumor. To assess the relevance of the Ras/Raf/MEK/MAP kinase pathway, we analyzed for activating B-Raf mutations and we elucidated the presence of the Raf Kinase Inhibitor Protein (RKIP) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) as well as the phosphorylation status of ERK. All MCC samples were negative for the B-Raf(V600E) mutation.

Standard and experimental therapy in cutaneous T-cell lymphomas.

Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas are a heterogeneous group of lymphoproliferative disorders, characterized by the accumulation of clonal lymphocytes in the skin. Skin-directed therapies are the preferred first-line modalities. There are interesting new developments in topical therapy using retinoids and gene-therapy products such as adenovirus- interferon (IFN)-gamma.