Gene Expression Profiling of Desmoid Tumors by cDNA Microarrays and Correlation with Progression-Free Survival.

Purpose: Because desmoid tumors exhibit an unpredictable clinical course, translational research is crucial to identify the predictive factors of progression in addition to the clinical parameters. The main issue is to detect patients who are at a higher risk of progression. The aim of this work was to identify molecular markers that can predict progression-free survival (PFS).

[Proliferating trichilemmal tumor of the ischiorectal fossa].

Proliferating trichilemmal tumor (PTT) is rare and follows a protracted course, almost always benign. Nevertheless an adverse outcome may occur. Usually PTT presents as an indolent mass in the scalp of elderly women.

Viability of cryopreserved human skin allografts: effects of transport media and cryoprotectant.

Human skin allografts can be preserved by different methods. In our clinical practice, human skin allografts are harvested on multi-organ and tissue donors, transferred at +4°C in Ringer Lactate, cryopreserved with 15% Glycerol and held in the vapor phase of a liquid nitrogen freezer until delivery to the burn center. The aim of this experimental study was to evaluate the impact of transport medium and cryoprotectant on the viability of human skin allografts.

Imatinib mesylate as a preoperative therapy in dermatofibrosarcoma: results of a multicenter phase II study on 25 patients.

Aims: The treatment of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) involves wide local excision with frequent need for reconstructive surgery. A t(17;22) translocation resulting in COL1A1-PDGFB fusion is present in >95% of cases. Certain patient observations and a report on nine patients suggest that imatinib mesylate, targeting platelet-derived growth factor receptor beta, has clinical potential in DFSP.

Molecular characterization by array comparative genomic hybridization and DNA sequencing of 194 desmoid tumors.

Desmoid tumors are fibroblastic/myofibroblastic proliferations. Previous studies reported that CTNNB1 mutations were detected in 84% and that mutations of the APC gene were found in several cases of sporadic desmoid tumors lacking CTNNB1 mutations. Forty tumors were analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH).

Analysis of alterations adjacent to invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the penis and their relationship with associated carcinoma.

Background: In contrast to vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), the etiologic factors and precancerous lesions associated with penile carcinoma remain uncertain.

Objectives: To describe the morphologic features of lesions adjacent to invasive penile SCC and their relationship with the associated carcinoma and to compare these associations with vulvar carcinoma.

Methods: This was a retrospective histologic analysis of 68 cases of penile SCC.

Highly sensitive multivariable assay detection of melanocytic differentiation antigens and angiogenesis biomarkers in sentinel lymph nodes with melanoma micrometastases.

Objectives: To evaluate the prognostic value of melanocytic differentiation antigens and angiogenesis biomarkers in sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) with melanoma micrometastases.

Design: Prognostic study of an inception cohort.

Setting: Academic research.

Coexpression of major histocompatibility complex class II with chemokines and nuclear NFkappaB p50 in melanoma: a rational for their association with poor prognosis.

The constitutive expression of major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) molecules in melanoma is highly unusual and has been associated with unfavorable clinical outcome and higher metastatic dissemination. This association remains poorly understood and therefore, in this study we looked to whether it is caused by intracellular events that promote tumor progression. We previously reported that MHC II expression in melanoma cells requires active mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-related kinase.

[Cutaneous heterotopic meningeal nodules].

Cutaneous heterotopic meningeal nodules are rare lesions whose pathogenesis remain discussed. They are typically located on the scalp or the rachidian axis. They often are congenital and diagnosed during childhood or young adulthood.

Slow dynamic lymphoscintigraphy is not a reliable predictor of sentinel-node negativity in cutaneous melanoma.

We reviewed data from 160 consecutive patients (89 M/71 F; 53.5 [range, 9-88] years) who had under-gone lymphoscintigraphy and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) in our hospital for histologically proven cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) (located on the upper limb: 33; lower limb: 57; trunk: 44; and head and neck: 26 patients), with a Breslow index > 1 mm and without clinical or radiologic evidence of metastatic spread. Colloidal (99m)Tc-rhenium sulfide (36-76 MBq) was injected intradermally in the four quadrants around the tumorectomy scar, followed by dynamic acquisition and static imaging.

Kaposi's sarcoma in HIV-negative men having sex with men.

Background: Four epidemiologic forms of Kaposi's sarcoma have been described, all of which are associated with the human herpesvirus-8. In western countries, human herpesvirus-8 is more prevalent in homosexual men than in the general population, and anecdotal cases of Kaposi's sarcoma in HIV-negative homosexual men have been reported.

Patients And Methods: We included HIV-negative homosexual and bisexual male patients with histologically proven Kaposi's sarcoma in a retrospective study.

Imiquimod 5% cream for treatment of HIV-negative Kaposi's sarcoma skin lesions: A phase I to II, open-label trial in 17 patients.

Background: Kaposi's sarcoma (KS), a virus-associated neoplasm, can be treated locally or systemically with interferon alfa. Therefore, imiquimod, an immune response modifier able to induce interferon-alpha secretion in situ, could prove a good local treatment for KS skin lesions.

Objective: We sought to determine the efficacy and safety of imiquimod 5% cream for the topical treatment of classic or endemic KS skin lesions in patients who are HIV negative.

Chronic recurrent lymphocytic Sweet syndrome as a predictive marker of myelodysplasia: a report of 9 cases.

Background: Sweet syndrome is an acute neutrophilic dermatosis that occurs with malignant diseases, mainly myeloid hemopathies, in about 20% of cases. When associated with myelodysplasia, Sweet syndrome may be clinically atypical. It can be histologically unusual.

[Clinical practice guideline: 2005 update of recommendations for the management of patients with cutaneous melanoma without distant metastases (summary report)].

Context: The National French federation of comprehensive cancer centres (FNCLCC) and the French society of dermatology (SFD) initiated together the update of clinical practice guideline for the management of patients with cutaneous melanoma in collaboration with the French national cancer institute and with specialists from French public universities, general hospitals and private clinics. This work is based on the methodology developed in the "Standards, Options and Recommendations" (SOR) project.

Objectives: To update SOR guidelines for the management of patients with cutaneous melanoma previously validated in 1998 and French melanoma consensus conference published by SFD and ANAES in 1995.

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus viremia is associated with the progression of classic and endemic Kaposi's sarcoma.

In order to gain further insight on the role of Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) in classic and endemic Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) pathogenesis, we aimed to determine (i) whether KSHV is detectable in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), (ii) which PBMCs subpopulation harbor the virus, (iii) which clinical, histologic, and immunologic parameters are associated with KSHV viremia in a population of classic and endemic KS. KSHV viremia and various immunologic parameters were screened on 81 patients. KSHV viremia was positive in 58% of the patients.

WHIM syndromes with different genetic anomalies are accounted for by impaired CXCR4 desensitization to CXCL12.

The WHIM syndrome is a rare immunodeficiency disorder characterized by warts, hypogammaglobulinemia, infections, and myelokathexis. Dominant heterozygous mutations of the gene encoding CXCR4, a G-protein-coupled receptor with a unique ligand, CXCL12, have been associated with this pathology. We studied patients belonging to 3 different pedigrees.

Foxp3 expressing CD4+CD25(high) regulatory T cells are overrepresented in human metastatic melanoma lymph nodes and inhibit the function of infiltrating T cells.

Dominant tolerance is mediated by regulatory T cells (T(reg)) that control harmful autoimmune T cells in the periphery. In this study, we investigate the implication of T(reg) in modulating infiltrating T lymphocytes in human metastatic melanoma. We found that CD4(+)CD25(high) T cells are overrepresented in metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) with a 2-fold increased frequency compared with both tumor-free LNs and autologous PBMCs.

Differential molecular profiling between skin carcinomas reveals four newly reported genes potentially implicated in squamous cell carcinoma development.

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are skin tumors with different invasive potential. In this work, we analysed mRNA differential expression between seven BCC and five SCC and their normal skin counterparts using 1176 cDNA macroarrays and verification by RT-PCR to identify genes modulated in each tumor type. We identified 37 genes commonly modulated in both tumors and four genes specifically modulated in SCC.

Surgical margins in cutaneous melanoma (2 cm versus 5 cm for lesions measuring less than 2.1-mm thick).

Background: This study addressed the question of whether limited surgery for primary malignant melanoma with a 2-cm margin is as good as a 5-cm margin. An update of a 16-year follow-up is provided.

Methods: Nine European Centers, over a period of 5 years, prospectively randomized 337 patients with melanoma measuring less than 2.