Similar local recurrence and survival in patients with T1 radial growth phase melanoma on head and neck treated with 5 or 10 mm margins: A retrospective study.

Background: Melanoma guidelines recommend surgical excision with 10 mm margins for T1 melanomas (invasive melanomas with Breslow thickness ≤1 mm), including those in radial growth phase, which are without metastatic potential; however, such margins may be problematic on head-and-neck.

Objective: We compared outcomes of wide (10 mm margins) versus narrow (5 mm margins) excisions in patients with radial growth phase T1 melanoma on head-and-neck including face.

Methods: We retrospectively examined 610 consecutive patients excised with wide versus narrow margins, from 2001 to 2018, at six European centres.

Survival in Patients With Sentinel Node-Positive Melanoma With Extranodal Extension.

Background: Prognostic parameters in sentinel node (SN)-positive melanoma are important indicators to identify patients at high risk of recurrence who should be candidates for adjuvant therapy. We aimed to evaluate the presence of melanoma cells beyond the SN capsule-extranodal extension (ENE)-as a prognostic factor in patients with positive SNs.

Methods: Data from 1,047 patients with melanoma and positive SNs treated from 2001 to 2020 at the Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori in Milano, Italy, were retrospectively investigated.

Vitamin D Supplementation and Disease-Free Survival in Stage II Melanoma: A Randomized Placebo Controlled Trial.

Patients with newly resected stage II melanoma ( = 104) were randomized to receive adjuvant vitamin D3 (100,000 IU every 50 days) or placebo for 3 years to investigate vitamin D3 protective effects on developing a recurrent disease. Median age at diagnosis was 50 years, and 43% of the patients were female. Median serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD) level at baseline was 18 ng/mL, interquartile range (IQ) was 13-24 ng/mL, and 80% of the patients had insufficient vitamin D levels.

Insights into Genetic Susceptibility to Melanoma by Gene Panel Testing: Potential Pathogenic Variants in ACD, and .

The contribution of recently established or candidate susceptibility genes to melanoma missing heritability has yet to be determined. Multigene panel testing could increase diagnostic yield and better define the role of candidate genes. We characterized 273 and negative probands through a custom-designed targeted gene panel that included and Co-segregation, loss of heterozygosity (LOH)/protein expression analysis, and splicing characterization were performed to improve variant classification.

Mould-based surface high-dose-rate brachytherapy for eyelid carcinoma.

Purpose: To evaluate toxicity and clinical outcomes in patients with eyelid tumour treated with contact high-dose-rate brachytherapy (HDR-BT).

Material And Methods: Between April 2010 and August 2017, 10 consecutive patients with tumour of the eyelid underwent contact HDR-BT and custom-made surface mould. Every applicator was manually built using conventional thermoplastic material and standard plastic catheters.

Anti-hypertensive drugs and skin cancer risk: a review of the literature and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Several anti-hypertensive drugs have photosensitizing properties, however it remains unclear whether long-term users of these drugs are also at increased risk of skin malignancies. We conducted a literature review and meta-analysis on the association between use of anti-hypertensive drugs and the risk of cutaneous melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC).

Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar and the Cochrane Library, and included observational and experimental epidemiological studies published until February 28th, 2017.

Prognostic significance of hematological profiles in melanoma patients.

Cancer-related inflammation may play an important role in disease progression and patient outcome, and could be easily monitored through indirect parameters routinely evaluated at diagnosis. Here, we investigated if peripheral blood cells and the ratios of neutrophils to lymphocytes (NLR) and of lymphocytes to monocytes (LMR) as surrogate markers of cancer related inflammation are associated with disease progression and survival of melanoma patients at any stage of the disease. Records of 1,182 melanoma patients included in an Institutional tumor registry in the period 2000-2010, were reviewed.

Multiple primary melanomas (MPMs) and criteria for genetic assessment: MultiMEL, a multicenter study of the Italian Melanoma Intergroup.

Background: Multiple primary melanoma (MPM), in concert with a positive family history, is a predictor of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A) germline mutations. A rule regarding the presence of either 2 or 3 or more cancer events (melanoma and pancreatic cancer) in low or high melanoma incidence populations, respectively, has been established to select patients for genetic referral.

Objective: We sought to determine the CDKN2A/CDK4/microphthalmia-associated transcription factor mutation rate among Italian patients with MPM to appropriately direct genetic counseling regardless of family history.

Electrochemotherapy for cutaneous and subcutaneous tumor lesions: a novel therapeutic approach.

Electroporation uses pulsed, high-intensity electric fields to temporarily increase cell membrane permeability by creation of pores, through which small molecules, such as chemotherapeutic agents, can diffuse inside cells before they reseal. The combination of electroporation with the administration of otherwise low-permeant cytotoxic drugs is known as electrochemotherapy (ECT). The two most commonly used drugs are bleomycin and cisplatin.

A case of aseptic pleuropericarditis in a patient with chronic plaque psoriasis under methotrexate therapy.

Methotrexate may rarely provoke serositis, even with low doses and after just a few weeks of therapy. We report here a rare case of pleuropericarditis due to methotrexate. The effusion resolved after the withdrawal of the drug and the beginning of anti-inflammatory therapy; there was no relapse during a 10-month follow-up.

Lentigines within nevus depigmentosus: a rare collateral effect of UVB therapy?

Nevus depigmentosus is an uncommon hypopigmented macule or patch that is congenital and stable in its relative size and distribution throughout life; it occurs sporadically and may be localized, segmental or, less often, systematized. We report the case of a 17-year-old girl with a segmental achromic nevus of the left leg and a patch on the lower back with late age of onset who developed lentigines after prolonged intense ultraviolet B exposure as a consequence of an incorrect diagnosis of segmental vitiligo.

Azithromycin: a new therapeutical strategy for acne in adolescents.

Aim: To study the efficacy, safety, and compliance of 500 mg azithromycin thrice weekly for 8 weeks to treat acne vulgaris in adolescents.

Methods: An open-label, non-comparative study was carried out for 8 weeks. Fifty-two teenagers with moderate to severe papulo-pustular acne vulgaris were enrolled.