Publications by authors named "Kaatz M"

Background: Cancer immunotherapy has revolutionized melanoma treatment, but the high number of non-responders still emphasizes the need for improvement of therapy. One potential avenue for enhancing anti-tumor treatment is through the modulation of coagulation and platelet activity. Both have been found to play an important role in the tumor microenvironment, tumor growth and metastasis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Skin cancer cases are on the rise, and in 2015, Germany made a law to let patients ask for a second medical opinion about their diagnosis and treatment.
  • A study with 714 patients found that most people seeking a second opinion were diagnosed with the most serious kind of skin cancer, and they wanted more information and reassurance about their treatment.
  • The results showed that getting a second opinion was helpful for patients, especially those who felt they had less control over their situation, and younger patients with more advanced cancer experienced more disruption in their daily lives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: In recent years, there has been an increase in skin cancer. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the representation of skin cancer in public awareness worldwide and in Germany, and to determine whether Skin Cancer Awareness Month is represented in the search interests of the Internet-using population in the same way as Breast Cancer Awareness Month worldwide.

Data And Methods: In this study, Google Trends data were used to track levels of public awareness for different tumor entities and skin cancer types worldwide and for Germany.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cobimetinib/vemurafenib combination therapy is approved for treatment of adults with unresectable or metastatic BRAF V600 mutated malignant melanoma (mM). The non-interventional post-authorisation safety study coveNIS collected real-world data on cobimetinib/vemurafenib treatment focussing on overall survival (OS), safety and utilization. MM patients with brain metastases are usually excluded from clinical studies.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Adjuvant therapy with immune-checkpoint inhibitors (CPI) or BRAF/MEK-directed targeted therapy (TT) improves recurrence-free survival (RFS) for patients with advanced, V600-mutant (mut) resected melanoma. However, 40% of these patients will develop distant metastases (DM) within 5 years, which require systemic therapy. Little data exist to guide the choice of upfront adjuvant therapy or treatment management upon DM.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The COVID-19 pandemic led to significant health, social, and economic changes, prompting lockdowns and other protective measures that not only targeted COVID-19 but also impacted other infectious diseases.
  • A study used anonymized case numbers from the German Robert Koch Institute and Google Trends data to analyze how these measures affected the incidence and public interest in diseases like influenza and measles in Germany.
  • Findings indicated a notable decline in cases for several infectious diseases during the pandemic, attributed to implemented anti-pandemic measures, alongside an increased public interest in COVID-19 and awareness of other diseases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Melanomas frequently harbour somatic mutations in BRAF (40%) or NRAS (20%). Impact of NRAS mutations on the therapeutic outcome of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) remains controversial. Potential correlation of the NRAS mutational status and programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression in melanoma is unknown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have emerged as a successful treatment option for diverse cancer entities. However, ICI therapy can be associated with immune-related adverse events (irAE) that can affect any organ system. These side effects can be severe, irreversible and sometimes even fatal.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study focused on advanced melanoma patients who developed brain metastases and how their treatment type influenced these outcomes.
  • A total of 1,704 patients were analyzed, showing that those treated with BRAF+MEK therapy had a higher incidence of brain metastases compared to those receiving PD-1 therapies after 24 months.
  • Findings indicated that the type of first-line therapy, along with tumor stage and patient age, were important factors affecting brain metastasis-free survival and overall survival in BRAF-positive melanoma patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) belongs to the group of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and is associated with the accumulation of a pathological isoform of the host-encoded glycoprotein, designated prion protein (PrP). Classical BSE (C-type) and two atypical BSE forms (L- and H-type) are known, and can be discriminated by biochemical characteristics. The goal of our study was to identify type-specific PrP profiles by using Immunohistochemistry.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Facial nerve paralysis or Bell's palsy have been suggested as possible consequences of SARS-CoV-2 infections, as well as possible side effects of COVID-19 vaccinations. Google Trends data have been used to evaluate worldwide levels of public awareness for these topics for pre- and post-pandemic years. The results demonstrate a relatively low public interest in facial nerve paralysis in comparison to other more common COVID-19 related topics.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is a common malignancy of the skin and has an overall favorable outcome, except for patients with an advanced stage of the disease. The efficacy of checkpoint inhibitors (CPI) for advanced cSCC has been demonstrated in recent clinical studies, but data from real-world cohorts and trial-ineligible cSCC patients are limited. We retrospectively investigated patients with advanced cSCC who have been treated with CPI in a first-line setting at eight German skin cancer centers registered within the multicenter registry ADOReg.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The global incidence of skin cancer has steadily increased in recent years, and malignant melanoma still has one of the fastest-growing incidence rates among all malignant tumors in the western world. Thus, newly diagnosed patients have an increased need for health information concerning their disease. Using a standardized questionnaire, our study aims to investigate our patients' primary sources of health-related information as well as their self-proclaimed eHealth literacy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study examines the challenges of treating melanoma brain metastasis (MBM) and the effects of various therapies on patient survival outcomes, utilizing data from 450 patients in a skin cancer registry.
  • Key findings indicate that radiotherapy significantly improves overall survival, while the type of initial therapy (immune checkpoint blockade or targeted therapy) does not show independent prognostic value.
  • Second-line BRAF+MEK targeted therapy demonstrated better survival compared to other treatments, especially when used after immune checkpoint blockade.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Global efforts have been made to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, various vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, partly based on novel principles, have been developed internationally within a short time. While initially the hardly available vaccines were distributed according to criteria according to defined priorities, in Germany, after the prioritization has been lifted, attempts are being made to provide as many people as possible with vaccinations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

In some COVID-19 patients, symptoms persist for several weeks and sometimes, after the acute disease phase, these patients develop new symptoms, which then represents a transition into the so-called long COVID. The exact demarcation of the terms and generally applicable definitions are still discussed, but the phenomenon is most commonly referred to as long COVID. In this study, Google Trends data have been used to track levels of public awareness for long COVID and some important symptoms during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objectives: Forty to sixty percent of patients with advanced melanoma show primary resistance to PD-1-based immunotherapy, 30-40% of initial responders also progress. Here, we evaluated the outcome of second-line targeted therapy (TT) after progression on PD-1-based immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) in BRAFV600-mutated melanoma. In addition, we report data on the activity of re-exposure with PD-1-based regimes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Most patients with advanced basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) may not benefit sufficiently from standard treatment comprising surgery and radiation. Vismodegib, an oral selective hedgehog pathway inhibitor, is approved for treatment of patients with locally advanced BCC inappropriate for surgery or radiotherapy, or for patients with symptomatic metastatic BCC. In order to enhance understanding of the effectiveness, safety and utilization of vismodegib in clinical practice in Germany, a non-interventional study, JONAS, was conducted.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The combination of BRAF and MEK inhibitors has become standard of care in the treatment of metastatic BRAF V600-mutated melanoma. Clinical factors for an early prediction of tumor response are rare. The present study investigated the association between the development of an early exanthema induced by vemurafenib or vemurafenib plus cobimetinib and therapy outcome.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The advent of BRAF/MEK inhibitors (BRAFi/MEKi) has significantly improved progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) for patients with advanced BRAF-V600-mutant melanoma. Long-term survivors have been identified particularly among patients with a complete response (CR) to BRAF/MEK-directed targeted therapy (TT). However, it remains unclear which patients who achieved a CR maintain a durable response and whether treatment cessation might be a safe option in these patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Before February, 2021, there was no standard treatment regimen for locally advanced basal cell carcinoma after first-line hedgehog inhibitor (HHI) therapy. Cemiplimab, a PD-1 antibody, is approved for treatment of advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and has shown clinical activity as monotherapy in first-line non-small-cell lung cancer. Here, we present the primary analysis data of cemiplimab in patients with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma after HHI therapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: A mobile handheld snapshot hyperspectral imaging device was developed and tested for in vivo skin evaluation using a new spectral imaging technology.

Methods: The device is equipped with four different LED light sources (VIS, 810 nm, 850 nm, and 940 nm) for illumination. Based on a diffractive optical element (DOE) combined with a CMOS sensor chip, a snapshot hyperspectral imager is achieved for the application on human skin.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Early-life conditions significantly impact the survival of animals in the wild, and this study focuses on juvenile white storks to explore this link.
  • By analyzing GPS and body-acceleration data, researchers found that both pre-fledging and post-fledging activity levels are positively associated with higher first-year survival rates.
  • The study suggests that increased daily activity, particularly during the post-fledging period, indicates better pre-migratory experience and individual quality, leading to improved survival outcomes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF