Posts Tagged ‘malignancies’

Association of major histocompatibility complex-class II-DR in Egyptian patients with basal cell carcinoma

Abstract  Basal and squamous cell carcinomas are the most common skin cancers, accounting for about 70% of all skin malignancies. They
are almost always found on sun-exposed areas such as the head and neck and are common in fair-skinned individuals. The aim
of this research is to detect any associations, which could be found between basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and different HLA-DRB1
alleles. We analyzed 45 randomized Egyptian patients with BCC aged from 19–79 years and 157 Egyptian healthy persons as controls.
Categorical and quantitative data were compared. We found that DRB1-01 and DRB1-07 tend to confer a risk of BCC. Their odd
ratios (OR) were 9.07 and 5.3, and the confidence intervals (CI) were 3.66–22.5, and 2.55–10.9, respectively. DRB1-15 and
DRB1-11 showe…

Surgical versus pathological excision margins—an excision too far?

Abstract  A common observation by clinicians who surgically excise skin pathology is the discrepancy between the measured size of the
surgical specimen and that of the measurements reported by the examining pathologist. This discrepancy can often be the difference
between whether, in the case of skin malignancies, the patient requires further wider excision, follow-up and, in cases where
relevant, discharge. Could it therefore mean that patients are needlessly undergoing further excisions that could be avoided
with more careful attention to specimen measurements and specimen ‘shrinkage,’ both surgically and pathologically? We measured
the length and width of skin lesions excised pre- and post-operatively and compared these measurements with the reported histopathological…

Future Advances in Melanoma Research

The future of melanoma research is promising. Specific mechanisms leading to oncogenic transformation in melanoma development have been identified, and are likely to produce new targets for melanoma therapy. Also, advances in melanoma research will result from melanoma investigators co-opting approaches used to study other malignancies in which progress has been made more rapidly. Systematic roadblocks limiting advances in melanoma research relative to other malignancies are being addressed in a formal manner. The public and public officials are increasingly becoming aware of the need for more dedicated efforts to address the challenges of research on this malignancy. (Source: Clinics in Plastic Surgery)