Langerhans Cells in Sentinel Lymph Nodes from Melanoma Patients.

Background: Langerhans cells (LCs) are professional Dendritic Cells (DCs) involved in immunoregulatory functions. At the skin level, LCs are immature. In response to tissue injuries, they migrate to regional Lymph Nodes (LNs), reaching a full maturation state.

The importance of mitosis ≥2 in selecting patients with T1 cutaneous melanomas for sentinel lymph node biopsy.

The 8th Edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Staging Manual removed the mitotic rate (MR) as a staging criterion for T1 melanomas, thus leading to a debate on sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in thin melanomas. This study investigates whether MR plays a role in selecting patients with T1 melanoma for SLNB. We analyzed clinical and histological data from the Florence Melanoma & Skin Cancer Unit database for 313 patients with a single thin melanoma who had undergone SLNB.

Correction to: Thick melanoma in Tuscany.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.23736/S0392-0488.17.

Efficacy of Electrochemotherapy in the Treatment of Cutaneous Melanoma Metastases and Rare Non-melanoma Skin Cancer.

Background: We aimed to verify the clinical efficacy and safety of the electrochemotherapy in melanoma metastases and in cases of rare non-melanoma tumors that were difficult to treat for the specific anatomical site or for patient comorbidities.

Patients And Methods: We treated 68 patients (699 cutaneous nodules), 44 patients with metastatic melanomas and 24 patients with non-melanoma tumors, at the Melanoma & Skin Cancer Unit, Florence, Italy.

Results: We obtained an objective response of 89.

Enhancing the prognostic role of melanoma sentinel lymph nodes through microscopic tumour burden characterization: clinical usefulness in patients who do not undergo complete lymph node dissection.

This study aimed to investigate the sentinel lymph node (SLN) tumour burden to predict the non-SLN positivity rate and the survival of melanoma patients to evaluate whether SLN microstaging could predict the prognosis, similar to what is currently performed by examining the lymph nodes excised by complete lymph node dissection. Of 1130 consecutive melanoma patients who underwent SLN biopsy, 226 were tumour-positive and 204 were included in this study. SLN metastases were classified on the basis of dimensional (Rotterdam) and topographic (Dewar) criteria either separately or combined.

T regulatory cells mediate immunosuppresion by adenosine in peripheral blood, sentinel lymph node and TILs from melanoma patients.

T regulatory cells (Tregs), involved in tumour tolerance, can generate Adenosine by CD39/CD73 surface enzymes, which identify four Tregs subsets: CD39CD73 nTregs, CD39CD73 iTregs, CD39CD73 oTregs and CD39CD73 xTregs. In melanoma patients, increased Tregs levels are detected in peripheral blood (PB), sentinel lymph node (SLN) and tumour infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), but Adenosine role was not investigated yet. We examined total Tregs and Adenosine subsets in PB, SLN and TILs from melanoma patients (n = 32) and PB from healthy donors (HD; n = 10) by flow cytometry.

Sentinel Lymph Node Status is a Main Prognostic Parameter Needful for the Correct Staging of Patients with Melanoma Thicker than 4 mm: Single-Institution Experience and Literature Meta-Analysis.

Purpose Of The Study: The usefulness of sentinel lymph node biopsy in thick melanomas is debated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible prognostic significance of sentinel lymph node biopsy in T4 melanoma patients and to verify whether this was a homogeneous group of patients with similar poor behavior.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective observational study was performed.

High Antigen Processing Machinery component expression in Langerhans cells from melanoma patients' sentinel lymph nodes.

Langerhans cells (LCs) from melanoma patients sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) are poor T cell activators mostly due to an immature immunophenotype. However Antigen Presenting Machinery (APM) role is unknown. We investigated HLA-class I APM components (Delta, LMP-7/10, TAP-1, Calnexin, Tapasin, β2-microglobulin and HLA-A,B,C) in LCs from healthy donors skin and melanoma patients SLN.

Multiple Lymph Node Basin Drainage in Trunk Melanoma Is Not Associated with Survival of Sentinel Lymph Node-Positive Patients.

Objectives: This study was aimed at investigating the prognostic role of multiple lymph node basin drainage (MLBD) in patients with positive sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy.

Background: MLBD is frequently observed in patients with trunk melanoma undergoing SLN. The prognostic value of MLBD in SLN-positive patients is still debated.

Thick melanoma in Tuscany.

Background: The epidemiologic trends of cutaneous melanoma are similar in several countries with a Western-type lifestyle, where there is a progressively increasing incidence and a low but not decreasing mortality - even increasing in selected cases, especially in the older age groups. Also in Tuscany there is a steady rise in the incidence with prevalence of in situ and invasive thin melanomas, with also an increase of thick melanomas. It is necessary to reduce the frequency of thick melanomas to reduce specific mortality.

CD4FOXP3 T regulatory cells decrease and CD3CD8 T cells recruitment in TILs from melanoma metastases after electrochemotherapy.

Electrochemotherapy (ECT) represents an effective local treatment for skin unresectable melanoma metastases with high overall objective response rate. ECT is based on the combination of anti-neoplastic drugs administration and cancer cells electroporation. Whether ECT can also activate the immune system is a matter of debate, however a significant recruitment of dendritic cells in melanoma treated metastases has been described.

Prognostic Role of Multiple Lymphatic Basin Drainage in Sentinel Lymph Node-Negative Trunk Melanoma Patients: A Multicenter Study from the Italian Melanoma Intergroup.

Background: Multiple lymphatic basin drainage (MLBD) is frequently observed in patients with trunk melanoma undergoing sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy. Conflicting data regarding the prognostic association of MLBD in SLN-negative patients have been reported. This study aimed to investigate the prognostic role of MLBD in patients with negative SLN biopsy.

A rare case of anal porocarcinoma treated by electrochemotherapy.

We report the case of an old woman with an eccrine porocarcinoma unusually localized in the perianal area treated by electrochemotherapy, a new technique, emerging as a very effective local treatment of different skin metastases and selected primary tumors. Electrochemotherapy was performed taking into account patient wishes and refusal of demolitive surgery. The electrochemotherapy treatment was well tolerated by the patient, it gave an excellent clinical response and a complete clinical regression with no sphincter dysfunction and signs of relapse observed during follow-up.

Melanoma density and relationship with the distribution of melanocytic naevi in an Italian population: a GIPMe study--the Italian multidisciplinary group on melanoma.

The most frequent site for melanoma is the back in men and the lower limbs in women, where intermittent sun exposure has been reported to be an environmental agent, although studies on age-specific incidence have suggested that melanoma in chronically sun-exposed areas, such as the face, increases with age. To identify the preferential development of melanoma in chronically or intermittently sun-exposed areas and the relationship between body site distribution and parameters such as sex, age, distribution of melanocytic naevi, atypical naevi and actinic keratoses, a prospective epidemiological multicentre study was carried out on all the consecutive melanoma cases diagnosed in a 2-year period from 27 Italian GIPMe centres (GIPMe: the Italian Multidisciplinary Group on Melanoma). Both the relative density of melanoma (RDM), defined as the ratio between observed and expected melanoma for a specific body site, and the average nevi density were identified.

Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis: congenital alopecia treatment in a rare neurocutaneous syndrome.

Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis (ECCL) is a rare neurocutaneous syndrome that include skin, ocular, and neurological disorders. This study describes the case of a 16-year-old girl that came to observation for the treatment of a congenital alopecia causing great psychological distress. After two expansion procedures the hairless patch was restored with high patient satisfaction.

'Animal-type' melanoma of the scalp with satellitosis and positive sentinel nodes in a 4-year-old child: case report and review of the literature.

Background: Although showing a rapidly rising incidence, paediatric melanoma is relatively rare, accounting for 1-4% of all cases of melanoma and for 1-3% of all paediatric malignancies. The overall survival rate in paediatric patients seems to be similar to that recorded in adults. 'Animal-type' melanoma (ATM) is a rare melanoma subtype, occurring both in childhood and in adults, that shows a close histological resemblance to the heavily pigmented melanocytic tumours observed in grey and white horses.

Familial and sporadic melanoma: different clinical and histopathological features in the Italian population - a multicentre epidemiological study - by GIPMe (Italian Multidisciplinary Group on Melanoma).

Background: Having a familial member affected by cutaneous melanoma is a risk factor for this neoplasm. Only a few epidemiological case-control studies have been carried out to investigate whether familial and sporadic melanomas show different clinical and histopathological features.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate eventual different features and risk factors in subjects affected by familial and sporadic cutaneous melanoma.

"Saddle" tailored upper eyelid island myocutaneous flap to repair full-thickness lower eyelid defects after melanoma excision.

Purpose: To perform an early melanoma diagnosis and to repair the full-thickness lower eyelid defect with an island upper eyelid myocutaneous flap tailored into a new shape.

Methods: Two patients with pigmented lesion involving skin and tarsus of the lower eyelid were reported. Histologic examination, performed after diagnostic punch biopsy, confirmed the diagnosis of in situ melanomas in both cases.

A global benchmark study using affinity-based biosensors.

To explore the variability in biosensor studies, 150 participants from 20 countries were given the same protein samples and asked to determine kinetic rate constants for the interaction. We chose a protein system that was amenable to analysis using different biosensor platforms as well as by users of different expertise levels. The two proteins (a 50-kDa Fab and a 60-kDa glutathione S-transferase [GST] antigen) form a relatively high-affinity complex, so participants needed to optimize several experimental parameters, including ligand immobilization and regeneration conditions as well as analyte concentrations and injection/dissociation times.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans in childhood: two case reports and review of the literature.

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare skin cancer with intermediate malignancy, characterized by a progressive local growth and a propensity for local recurrence. DFSP is most frequent in adults; however, in recent years, DFSP in childhood emerged to be more common than previously believed. Unfortunately DFSP in children may be misdiagnosed, leading to a delay in the treatment.

The p.G23S CDKN2A founder mutation in high-risk melanoma families from Central Italy.

We have investigated the frequency and spectrum of CDKN2A/CDK4 mutations in 23 cutaneous melanoma families from Central Italy (Tuscany). Three distinct mutations were identified in five families. One mutation, p.