Tattoo removal with ingenol mebutate.

An increasing number of people are getting tattoos; however, many regret the decision and seek their removal. Lasers are currently the most commonly used method for tattoo removal; however, treatment can be lengthy, costly, and sometimes ineffective, especially for certain colors. Ingenol mebutate is a licensed topical treatment for actinic keratoses.

Effective treatment of squamous cell carcinomas with ingenol mebutate gel in immunologically intact SKH1 mice.

Ingenol mebutate has recently been approved by the Federal Drug Administration (USA) as a topical treatment for actinic keratoses. Herein, we describe the efficacy of ingenol mebutate for the topical treatment of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) using a wild-type mouse model (SKH1) and the UV-induced mouse SCC cell line, T7. Daily treatment for 2 days with 0.

Ingenol mebutate field-directed treatment of UVB-damaged skin reduces lesion formation and removes mutant p53 patches.

Skin cancer is the most prevalent cancer worldwide and is primarily caused by chronic UV exposure. Here, we describe the topical field-directed treatment of SKH1/hr mice with UVB-damaged skin with ingenol mebutate, a new topical drug shown to be effective for the treatment of actinic keratosis (AK). Application of 0.

Thrombospondin-4 is a putative tumour-suppressor gene in colorectal cancer that exhibits age-related methylation.

Background: Thrombospondin-4 (THBS4) is a member of the extracellular calcium-binding protein family and is involved in cell adhesion and migration. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential role of deregulation of THBS4 expression in colorectal carcinogenesis. Of particular interest was the possible silencing of expression by methylation of the CpG island in the gene promoter.

The induction of senescence-like growth arrest by protein kinase C-activating diterpene esters in solid tumor cells.

We previously identified the induction of senescence in melanoma cell lines sensitive to diterpene esters, indicating a therapeutic potential. Here we compared the cytostatic effects of two diterpene esters: the prototypic PKC-activating drug TPA (12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate), and the novel compound PEP008 (20-O-acetyl-ingenol-3-angelate) in cell lines derived from melanoma, breast cancer and colon cancer. The diterpene esters induced permanent growth arrest with characteristics of senescence in a subset of cell lines in all three solid tumor models at 100-1000 ng/ml.

Bone morphogenic protein 3 inactivation is an early and frequent event in colorectal cancer development.

Bone morphogenic proteins (BMPs) are members of the TGFB growth factor superfamily with well-described functions in bone formation. Although disrupted BMP signalling in tumor development has more recently been investigated, a role for BMP3 in colorectal cancer (CRC) has remained largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to investigate BMP3 disruption in CRCs in relation to both the traditional and serrated pathways of tumor progression.

SnoN expression is differently regulated in microsatellite unstable compared with microsatellite stable colorectal cancers.

Background: SnoN is an important regulator of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) signalling pathway and has been shown to exhibit both tumour promotion and suppression activity.

Methods: To further explore the role of this complex molecule in colorectal tumorigenesis, we examined 52 paired normal and tumour colorectal specimens stratified by level of microsatellite instability; 18 with high-level microsatellite instability (MSI-H) and 34 microsatellite stable (MSS). SnoN transcript expression was quantitated by real-time PCR and analysed with respect to clinical indicators of prognosis.

Induction of senescence in diterpene ester-treated melanoma cells via protein kinase C-dependent hyperactivation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.

The diterpene ester PEP005 is a novel anticancer agent that activates protein kinase C (PKC) and induces cell death in melanoma at high doses. We now describe the in vitro cytostatic effects of PEP005 and the diterpene ester phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, observed in 20% of human melanoma cell lines. Primary cultures of normal human neonatal fibroblasts were resistant to growth arrest, indicating a potential for tumor selectivity.

Antitumor activity of 3-ingenyl angelate: plasma membrane and mitochondrial disruption and necrotic cell death.

Options for skin cancer treatment currently include surgery, radiotherapy, topical chemotherapy, cryosurgery, curettage, and electrodessication. Although effective, surgery is costly and unsuitable for certain patients. Radiotherapy can leave a poor cosmetic effect, and current chemotherapy is limited by low cure rates and extended treatment schedules.

Microarray expression profiling in melanoma reveals a BRAF mutation signature.

We have used microarray gene expression profiling and machine learning to predict the presence of BRAF mutations in a panel of 61 melanoma cell lines. The BRAF gene was found to be mutated in 42 samples (69%) and intragenic mutations of the NRAS gene were detected in seven samples (11%). No cell line carried mutations of both genes.