Publications by authors named "Dika E"
"Harald Kittler" was not included as an author in the original publication [...
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- - Melanoma cases are on the rise, leading to frequent updates in guidelines for diagnosis, staging, and treatment; recent approvals now include adjuvant therapy for stage IIb/c melanoma.
- - A study involving 92 melanoma patients revealed that those with stage IIb/c have a later age of diagnosis and a higher occurrence of specific characteristics like ulceration and angiotropism compared to stage IIIa patients.
- - While not statistically significant, stage IIb/c patients showed a higher rate of metastasis over a 5-year period (15%) compared to those with stage IIIa melanoma (4%), highlighting the potential benefits of adjuvant immunotherapy for stage IIb/c patients.
Exploring the Common Mutational Landscape in Cutaneous Melanoma and Pancreatic Cancer.
Pigment Cell Melanoma Res
January 2025
Cutaneous melanoma (CM) and pancreatic cancer are aggressive tumors whose incidences are rapidly increasing in the last years. This review aims to provide a complete and update description about mutational landscape in CM and pancreatic cancer, focusing on similarities of these two apparently so different tumors in terms of site, type of cell involved, and embryonic origin. The familial forms of CM and pancreatic cancers are often characterized by a common mutated gene, namely CDKN2A.
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- Advanced melanoma treatments have evolved with targeted therapies and immunotherapies, which significantly impact management but also lead to increased skin toxicities during treatment.
- A study in Bologna identified that 37.5% of 202 patients treated for melanoma developed cutaneous adverse events, primarily linked to drugs like ipilimumab and nivolumab.
- Most skin reactions were low-grade and manageable, but some resulted in severe conditions, highlighting the importance of recognizing and treating these toxicities to ensure patient quality of life.
Comparative Analysis of AI Models for Atypical Pigmented Facial Lesion Diagnosis.
Bioengineering (Basel)
October 2024
Article Synopsis
- Diagnosing atypical pigmented facial lesions (aPFLs) is difficult for dermatologists and crucial for patient care, as incorrect diagnoses can lead to mismanagement and delays in treatment.
- The study compared machine learning and deep learning models to improve diagnostic accuracy of aPFLs using 1197 dermoscopic images classified into seven categories, focusing on the potential role of AI in supporting clinicians.
- Results showed that while dermatologists were 71.2% accurate in identifying malignant versus benign lesions, their accuracy dropped to 42.9% when distinguishing among specific lesions, highlighting the complexity of aPFL evaluations.
Article Synopsis
- External ear lentigo maligna/lentigo melanoma (LM/LMM) accounts for 1%-4% of all primary skin melanomas, and dermoscopy has greatly improved early detection over the last 20 years, especially with new diagnostic features like perifollicular linear projections (PLP).
- The study focused on 19 patients from the Oncologic Dermatology Unit in Bologna, investigating dermoscopic traits and the patients' clinical data, revealing that most patients were older males with an average age of 69.8 years.
- Results indicated that lentigo melanoma (LMM) tends to be larger (more than twice the size) and more commonly presents in older patients than lentigo maligna (LM), with
Background: Basosquamous carcinoma (BSC) is a rare and aggressive nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) that exhibits features of both BCC and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The gold standard for diagnosis is histopathological examination. BSC is often challenging to diagnose and manage due to its mixed histological features and potential for aggressive behavior AIM: To identify specific features aiding clinicians in differentiating BSCs using non-invasive diagnostic techniques.
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- * Researchers collected a dataset of 471 lesions from 10 European centers and evaluated them through a blinded analysis involving 156 dermatologists of varying experience, using a specialized online platform.
- * The findings revealed that certain areas, like the heel and fingers, had higher rates of early-stage melanomas compared to atypical nevi, and demonstrated that diagnosing lesions in the plantar arch was particularly challenging for dermatologists.
Reflectance confocal microscopy as noninvasive tool for monitoring tirbanibulin efficacy in actinic keratosis.
Photodiagnosis Photodyn Ther
August 2024
Actinic keratosis (AK) is a common precancerous condition found on sun-damaged skin. Tirbanibulin 1 % ointment has been approved for the topical treatment of non-hyperkeratotic facial and scalp Olsen grade I AKs over a contiguous area of 25 cm with a daily application for 5 consecutive days. Our aim was to investigate the use of in vivo RCM in the assessment of the response of AKs treated with tirbanibulin, as it has never been described in the published Literature.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cutaneous melanoma (CM) is one of the most lethal tumors among skin cancers and its incidence is rising worldwide. Recent data support the role of microRNAs (miRNAs) in melanoma carcinogenesis and their potential use as disease biomarkers.
Methods: We quantified the expression of miR-146a-5p and miR-21-5p in 170 formalin-fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) samples of CM, namely 116 superficial spreading melanoma (SSM), 26 nodular melanoma (NM), and 28 lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM).
Cutaneous melanoma is one of the most lethal tumors among skin cancers, characterized by complex genetic and molecular alterations that result in uncontrolled cell proliferation and metastatic spread. Next-generation sequencing (NGS) enables the simultaneous examination of numerous genes, making this molecular technique essential for melanoma diagnosis, prognostic stratification, and therapy planning. Herein, we present the experience with our laboratory-designed NGS panel for the routine assessment of advanced-stage melanoma.
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