Results of an investigator-initiated single-blind split-face comparison of photodynamic therapy and 5% imiquimod cream for the treatment of actinic keratoses.

Background: Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) with aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and 5% imiquimod cream are effective therapies for the treatment of actinic keratoses (AKs), but no split-face studies directly comparing these treatment options are available in the literature.

Objective: To compare the efficacy and tolerability of ALA-PDT and imiquimod 5% cream for the treatment of AKs.

Results: Sixty-one patients were enrolled from the Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Hospital; 51 completed the study and were included in the analysis.

Use of oral N-acetylcysteine for protection of melanocytic nevi against UV-induced oxidative stress: towards a novel paradigm for melanoma chemoprevention.

Purpose: Induction of oxidative stress has been implicated in UV-induced melanoma. We sought to determine whether the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) could be safely administered to protect melanocytic nevi from the oxidative stress resulting from acute UV exposure.

Experimental Design: Patients at increased risk for melanoma were recruited from a screening clinic.

Treatment of lentigo maligna with imiquimod before staged excision.

Background: Imiquimod 5% cream has demonstrated effectiveness in the treatment of lentigo maligna (LM) in several small studies. None of the studies to date have included posttreatment surgical removal to confirm negative histologic margins.

Objective: The aim of this retrospective analysis was to assess the efficacy of topical imiquimod in LM by circumferentially examining vertically oriented sections from a geometrically designed "picture frame" margin as well as bread-loafed sections of the central portion after staged excisions of imiquimod-treated lesions of LM.

An autonomous replicating element within the KSHV genome.

Members of the herpesviridae family including Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) persist latently in their hosts and harbor their genomes as closed circular episomes. Propagation of the KSHV genome into new daughter cells requires replication of the episome once every cell division and is considered critically dependent on expression of the virus encoded latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA). This study demonstrates a LANA-independent mechanism of KSHV latent DNA replication.

N-acetylcysteine protects melanocytes against oxidative stress/damage and delays onset of ultraviolet-induced melanoma in mice.

Purpose: UV radiation is the major environmental risk factor for melanoma and a potent inducer of oxidative stress, which is implicated in the pathogenesis of several malignancies. We evaluated whether the thiol antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) could protect melanocytes from UV-induced oxidative stress/damage in vitro and from UV-induced melanoma in vivo.

Experimental Design: In vitro experiments used the mouse melanocyte line melan-a.

Melanocyte expression of survivin promotes development and metastasis of UV-induced melanoma in HGF-transgenic mice.

We previously found the apoptosis inhibitor Survivin to be expressed in melanocytic nevi and melanoma but not in normal melanocytes. To investigate the role of Survivin in melanoma development and progression, we examined the consequences of forced Survivin expression in melanocytes in vivo. Transgenic (Tg) mouse lines (Dct-Survivin) were generated with melanocyte-specific expression of Survivin, and melanocytes grown from Dct-Survivin mice expressed Survivin.

Unsuitability of organ donation from a patient with a history of melanoma?

A 52-year-old man with a history of melanoma presented to the emergency department with a massive intracranial hemorrhage. The patient deteriorated rapidly and was being considered as a potential organ donor. Three years before presentation, the patient had undergone wide excision of a 3.

KSHV encoded LANA upregulates Pim-1 and is a substrate for its kinase activity.

Pim kinases are proto-oncogenes that are upregulated in a number of B cell cancers, including Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) associated Burkitt's lymphoma. They have also been shown to be upregulated in Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpes virus (KSHV) infected primary B cells. Most cells in KSHV-associated tumors are latently infected and express only a small subset of viral genes, with KSHV latency associated nuclear antigen (LANA) being constitutively expressed.

Molecular biology of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus.

Over the past twenty odd years, kaposi's sarcoma has launched from being a rare pathological curiosity to a significant public health concern. This massive increase in incidence, concurrent with the aids epidemic, has sparked a tremendous amount of interest in uncovering the etiopathogenesis of this disease. Due to its striking association with hiv infection, researchers have focused on identifying a possible infectious agent as the cause of this disease.