New Discovery: A Virus That Causes a Rare Skin Cancer
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute led by Patrick Moore, M.D., M.P.H., recently reported finding a virus that they suspect causes Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a rare but deadly form of skin cancer that mainly affects older people and those whose immune systems have been compromised by AIDS or organ transplant drugs.
As reported in the journal Science, the discovery of the virus being called Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) resulted after viral DNA sequences were found to be present in 80% of Merkel cell tumors.
Merkel cell carcinoma develops from specialized nerve cells that respond to touch or pressure. Experts suspect the virus is deadly because it produces a cancer-causing protein or knocks out a gene that suppresses tumor growth. About 50% of patients with advanced disease live 9 months or less.
If the new virus proves to be the cause, it may open the door for new treatments or prevention for a particularly aggressive cancer, one whose incidence in the United States has tripled to 1,500 in the past 20 years. Among such possibilities could be the development of a blood test or vaccine such as the one now available for human papillomavirus, which can sometimes lead to cervical cancer.
This is the second tumor-associated virus discovered by Dr. Moore and his wife Yuan Chang, M.D., the team who also discovered Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus in 1993.
Feng H, Shuda M, Chang Y, Moore PS. Clonal integration of a polyomavirus in human Merkel cell carcinoma. Science. 2008; Feb 22;319(5866):1096-100.
Simple New Test Differentiates Melanomas from Dysplastic Nevi
In what may be a diagnostic breakthrough for melanoma, a noninvasive tape-strip genetic test may accurately discriminate between melanomas and dysplastic nevi and may also differentiate high-risk from low-risk dysplastic nevi.
Study Method
Preliminary data presented as a poster at the annual meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology concluded that, in a study of 15 melanomas and 38 dysplastic nevi, tape-stripping of the stratum corneum and analysis using a five-gene classifier system, accurately discriminated between melanomas and dysplastic nevi.
The tape-stripping method, called epidermal genetic information retrieval (EGIR), applies 4-mm by 20-mm segments of tape to harvest RNA.
The study involved a total of 53 suspicious pigmented lesions at least 6 mm in diameter in adult patients. If more than two lesions were present, they had to be more than 4 mm apart on the skin.
The investigators tape-stripped each lesion up to four times and also tape-stripped uninvolved skin on each patient to serve as control specimens. If the lesion was smaller than the tape strip, they marked the lesion edges on the tape with a pen to focus RNA retrieval.
All lesions then were biopsied and sent for histopathologic examination, which diagnosed 15 melanomas (10 in situ and 5 invasive melanomas) and 38 nevi (30 Clark’s nevi, 4 lentiginous nevi, and 4 congenital pattern nevi).
The harvested RNA underwent isolation and amplification to provide cDNA for analysis, which found 117 differentially expressed genes in the samples. Hierarchical cluster analysis differentiated the melanomas from normal skin and showed at least three major groups of dysplastic nevi, suggesting that gene expression profiling might be able to differentiate low-grade from high-grade dysplastic nevi.
Classifying the Genes
Further analysis of the 33 most statistically significant genes differentially expressed between melanomas and dysplastic nevi identified a five-gene classifier system that accurately differentiated melanomas from dysplastic nevi.
Investigators then applied the five-gene classifier to an independent set of tape-stripped specimens to confirm that it can predict whether a lesion is melanoma or a dysplastic nevus.
William Wachsman W. Differentiation of Melanoma From Dysplastic Nevi in Suspicious Pigmented Skin Lesions by Non-Invasive Tape Stripping. Presented at 2008 Society for Investigative Dermatology Meeting.
Reflective Confocal Microscopy: New Working Group Formed
If you have an interest in learning more about reflective confocal microscopy, then consider joining a newly formed independent group of medical professionals and students. Known as the International Confocal Microscopy Working Group, this group was formed to promote the betterment and increased use of reflective confocal microscopy (RCM) in patient care.
The group held its first meeting at the American Academy of Dermatology where organization and membership guidelines were established and opportunities for collaborative research and training were discussed.
Reflective confocal microscopy is a new medical imaging technology that noninvasively provides cellular resolution images of the skin (see Figure). These images can assist physicians in identification of skin disease and monitoring treatment.
The goal of the International Confocal Microscopy Working Group is to create broad acceptance of RCM for the diagnosis of skin cancers and conditions. Founders of the group include Dr. Salvador González of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York; Ramon y Cajal Hospital in Madrid; Dr. Giovanni Pellacani of University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; Dr. Josep Malvehy of Hospital Clinic Barcelona and CEDILP; and Dr. Susana Puig of Hospital Clinic Barcelona and CEDILP.
To learn more about the working group, contact Maggie Oliverio at Maggie@ADMCORP.com.
Caffeine Plus Exercise May Equal Lower Skin Cancer Rates
In what may have positive implications for human coffee drinkers, Rutgers researchers found that the combination of caffeine and exercise appears to work synergistically to reduce cancer risk in mice.
The group, led by Allan H. Conney, Ph.D., of the laboratory for cancer research at Rutgers, found that the caffeine and exercise — not necessarily at the same time — increased destruction of precancerous cells that had been damaged by the sun’s ultraviolet-B radiation.
The researchers’ report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences detailed their study of hairless mice in four groups. Some were fed water containing caffeine, some had wheels on which they could run, some had both and a control group had neither.
Compared with the control animals, those drinking caffeine had a 95% increase in apoptosis in damaged cells. The exercisers showed a 120% increase, and the mice that were both drinking and running showed a nearly 400% increase.
The findings were unexpected, as researchers had originally intended to study effects of green tea in preventing skin cancer and were doing tests on regular and decaffeinated teas.
When they found it was the caffeinated, not the decaffeinated tea, that had an effect on mice, and that the mice drinking caffeine were more active than the others, they changed the focus of their study to investigate the two variables together —even putting running wheels into some of the cages.
And they found that both caffeine and exercise helped eliminate damaged skin cells, but the combination worked better than either alone.
Lu Y-P, Nolan B, Lou Y-R, Peng Q-Y, Wagner GC, Conney AH. Voluntary exercise together with oral caffeine markedly stimulates UVB light-induced apoptosis and decreases tissue fat in SKH-1 mice. PNAS. 2007;104:12936-12941.
New Discovery: A Virus That Causes a Rare Skin Cancer
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute led by Patrick Moore, M.D., M.P.H., recently reported finding a virus that they suspect causes Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a rare but deadly form of skin cancer that mainly affects older people and those whose immune systems have been compromised by AIDS or organ transplant drugs.
As reported in the journal Science, the discovery of the virus being called Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) resulted after viral DNA sequences were found to be present in 80% of Merkel cell tumors.
Merkel cell carcinoma develops from specialized nerve cells that respond to touch or pressure. Experts suspect the virus is deadly because it produces a cancer-causing protein or knocks out a gene that suppresses tumor growth. About 50% of patients with advanced disease live 9 months or less.
If the new virus proves to be the cause, it may open the door for new treatments or prevention for a particularly aggressive cancer, one whose incidence in the United States has tripled to 1,500 in the past 20 years. Among such possibilities could be the development of a blood test or vaccine such as the one now available for human papillomavirus, which can sometimes lead to cervical cancer.
This is the second tumor-associated virus discovered by Dr. Moore and his wife Yuan Chang, M.D., the team who also discovered Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus in 1993.
Feng H, Shuda M, Chang Y, Moore PS. Clonal integration of a polyomavirus in human Merkel cell carcinoma. Science. 2008; Feb 22;319(5866):1096-100.
Simple New Test Differentiates Melanomas from Dysplastic Nevi
In what may be a diagnostic breakthrough for melanoma, a noninvasive tape-strip genetic test may accurately discriminate between melanomas and dysplastic nevi and may also differentiate high-risk from low-risk dysplastic nevi.
Study Method
Preliminary data presented as a poster at the annual meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology concluded that, in a study of 15 melanomas and 38 dysplastic nevi, tape-stripping of the stratum corneum and analysis using a five-gene classifier system, accurately discriminated between melanomas and dysplastic nevi.
The tape-stripping method, called epidermal genetic information retrieval (EGIR), applies 4-mm by 20-mm segments of tape to harvest RNA.
The study involved a total of 53 suspicious pigmented lesions at least 6 mm in diameter in adult patients. If more than two lesions were present, they had to be more than 4 mm apart on the skin.
The investigators tape-stripped each lesion up to four times and also tape-stripped uninvolved skin on each patient to serve as control specimens. If the lesion was smaller than the tape strip, they marked the lesion edges on the tape with a pen to focus RNA retrieval.
All lesions then were biopsied and sent for histopathologic examination, which diagnosed 15 melanomas (10 in situ and 5 invasive melanomas) and 38 nevi (30 Clark’s nevi, 4 lentiginous nevi, and 4 congenital pattern nevi).
The harvested RNA underwent isolation and amplification to provide cDNA for analysis, which found 117 differentially expressed genes in the samples. Hierarchical cluster analysis differentiated the melanomas from normal skin and showed at least three major groups of dysplastic nevi, suggesting that gene expression profiling might be able to differentiate low-grade from high-grade dysplastic nevi.
Classifying the Genes
Further analysis of the 33 most statistically significant genes differentially expressed between melanomas and dysplastic nevi identified a five-gene classifier system that accurately differentiated melanomas from dysplastic nevi.
Investigators then applied the five-gene classifier to an independent set of tape-stripped specimens to confirm that it can predict whether a lesion is melanoma or a dysplastic nevus.
William Wachsman W. Differentiation of Melanoma From Dysplastic Nevi in Suspicious Pigmented Skin Lesions by Non-Invasive Tape Stripping. Presented at 2008 Society for Investigative Dermatology Meeting.
Reflective Confocal Microscopy: New Working Group Formed
If you have an interest in learning more about reflective confocal microscopy, then consider joining a newly formed independent group of medical professionals and students. Known as the International Confocal Microscopy Working Group, this group was formed to promote the betterment and increased use of reflective confocal microscopy (RCM) in patient care.
The group held its first meeting at the American Academy of Dermatology where organization and membership guidelines were established and opportunities for collaborative research and training were discussed.
Reflective confocal microscopy is a new medical imaging technology that noninvasively provides cellular resolution images of the skin (see Figure). These images can assist physicians in identification of skin disease and monitoring treatment.
The goal of the International Confocal Microscopy Working Group is to create broad acceptance of RCM for the diagnosis of skin cancers and conditions. Founders of the group include Dr. Salvador González of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York; Ramon y Cajal Hospital in Madrid; Dr. Giovanni Pellacani of University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; Dr. Josep Malvehy of Hospital Clinic Barcelona and CEDILP; and Dr. Susana Puig of Hospital Clinic Barcelona and CEDILP.
To learn more about the working group, contact Maggie Oliverio at Maggie@ADMCORP.com.
Caffeine Plus Exercise May Equal Lower Skin Cancer Rates
In what may have positive implications for human coffee drinkers, Rutgers researchers found that the combination of caffeine and exercise appears to work synergistically to reduce cancer risk in mice.
The group, led by Allan H. Conney, Ph.D., of the laboratory for cancer research at Rutgers, found that the caffeine and exercise — not necessarily at the same time — increased destruction of precancerous cells that had been damaged by the sun’s ultraviolet-B radiation.
The researchers’ report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences detailed their study of hairless mice in four groups. Some were fed water containing caffeine, some had wheels on which they could run, some had both and a control group had neither.
Compared with the control animals, those drinking caffeine had a 95% increase in apoptosis in damaged cells. The exercisers showed a 120% increase, and the mice that were both drinking and running showed a nearly 400% increase.
The findings were unexpected, as researchers had originally intended to study effects of green tea in preventing skin cancer and were doing tests on regular and decaffeinated teas.
When they found it was the caffeinated, not the decaffeinated tea, that had an effect on mice, and that the mice drinking caffeine were more active than the others, they changed the focus of their study to investigate the two variables together —even putting running wheels into some of the cages.
And they found that both caffeine and exercise helped eliminate damaged skin cells, but the combination worked better than either alone.
Lu Y-P, Nolan B, Lou Y-R, Peng Q-Y, Wagner GC, Conney AH. Voluntary exercise together with oral caffeine markedly stimulates UVB light-induced apoptosis and decreases tissue fat in SKH-1 mice. PNAS. 2007;104:12936-12941.
New Discovery: A Virus That Causes a Rare Skin Cancer
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute led by Patrick Moore, M.D., M.P.H., recently reported finding a virus that they suspect causes Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), a rare but deadly form of skin cancer that mainly affects older people and those whose immune systems have been compromised by AIDS or organ transplant drugs.
As reported in the journal Science, the discovery of the virus being called Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCV) resulted after viral DNA sequences were found to be present in 80% of Merkel cell tumors.
Merkel cell carcinoma develops from specialized nerve cells that respond to touch or pressure. Experts suspect the virus is deadly because it produces a cancer-causing protein or knocks out a gene that suppresses tumor growth. About 50% of patients with advanced disease live 9 months or less.
If the new virus proves to be the cause, it may open the door for new treatments or prevention for a particularly aggressive cancer, one whose incidence in the United States has tripled to 1,500 in the past 20 years. Among such possibilities could be the development of a blood test or vaccine such as the one now available for human papillomavirus, which can sometimes lead to cervical cancer.
This is the second tumor-associated virus discovered by Dr. Moore and his wife Yuan Chang, M.D., the team who also discovered Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus in 1993.
Feng H, Shuda M, Chang Y, Moore PS. Clonal integration of a polyomavirus in human Merkel cell carcinoma. Science. 2008; Feb 22;319(5866):1096-100.
Simple New Test Differentiates Melanomas from Dysplastic Nevi
In what may be a diagnostic breakthrough for melanoma, a noninvasive tape-strip genetic test may accurately discriminate between melanomas and dysplastic nevi and may also differentiate high-risk from low-risk dysplastic nevi.
Study Method
Preliminary data presented as a poster at the annual meeting of the Society for Investigative Dermatology concluded that, in a study of 15 melanomas and 38 dysplastic nevi, tape-stripping of the stratum corneum and analysis using a five-gene classifier system, accurately discriminated between melanomas and dysplastic nevi.
The tape-stripping method, called epidermal genetic information retrieval (EGIR), applies 4-mm by 20-mm segments of tape to harvest RNA.
The study involved a total of 53 suspicious pigmented lesions at least 6 mm in diameter in adult patients. If more than two lesions were present, they had to be more than 4 mm apart on the skin.
The investigators tape-stripped each lesion up to four times and also tape-stripped uninvolved skin on each patient to serve as control specimens. If the lesion was smaller than the tape strip, they marked the lesion edges on the tape with a pen to focus RNA retrieval.
All lesions then were biopsied and sent for histopathologic examination, which diagnosed 15 melanomas (10 in situ and 5 invasive melanomas) and 38 nevi (30 Clark’s nevi, 4 lentiginous nevi, and 4 congenital pattern nevi).
The harvested RNA underwent isolation and amplification to provide cDNA for analysis, which found 117 differentially expressed genes in the samples. Hierarchical cluster analysis differentiated the melanomas from normal skin and showed at least three major groups of dysplastic nevi, suggesting that gene expression profiling might be able to differentiate low-grade from high-grade dysplastic nevi.
Classifying the Genes
Further analysis of the 33 most statistically significant genes differentially expressed between melanomas and dysplastic nevi identified a five-gene classifier system that accurately differentiated melanomas from dysplastic nevi.
Investigators then applied the five-gene classifier to an independent set of tape-stripped specimens to confirm that it can predict whether a lesion is melanoma or a dysplastic nevus.
William Wachsman W. Differentiation of Melanoma From Dysplastic Nevi in Suspicious Pigmented Skin Lesions by Non-Invasive Tape Stripping. Presented at 2008 Society for Investigative Dermatology Meeting.
Reflective Confocal Microscopy: New Working Group Formed
If you have an interest in learning more about reflective confocal microscopy, then consider joining a newly formed independent group of medical professionals and students. Known as the International Confocal Microscopy Working Group, this group was formed to promote the betterment and increased use of reflective confocal microscopy (RCM) in patient care.
The group held its first meeting at the American Academy of Dermatology where organization and membership guidelines were established and opportunities for collaborative research and training were discussed.
Reflective confocal microscopy is a new medical imaging technology that noninvasively provides cellular resolution images of the skin (see Figure). These images can assist physicians in identification of skin disease and monitoring treatment.
The goal of the International Confocal Microscopy Working Group is to create broad acceptance of RCM for the diagnosis of skin cancers and conditions. Founders of the group include Dr. Salvador González of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York; Ramon y Cajal Hospital in Madrid; Dr. Giovanni Pellacani of University of Modena and Reggio Emilia; Dr. Josep Malvehy of Hospital Clinic Barcelona and CEDILP; and Dr. Susana Puig of Hospital Clinic Barcelona and CEDILP.
To learn more about the working group, contact Maggie Oliverio at Maggie@ADMCORP.com.
Caffeine Plus Exercise May Equal Lower Skin Cancer Rates
In what may have positive implications for human coffee drinkers, Rutgers researchers found that the combination of caffeine and exercise appears to work synergistically to reduce cancer risk in mice.
The group, led by Allan H. Conney, Ph.D., of the laboratory for cancer research at Rutgers, found that the caffeine and exercise — not necessarily at the same time — increased destruction of precancerous cells that had been damaged by the sun’s ultraviolet-B radiation.
The researchers’ report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences detailed their study of hairless mice in four groups. Some were fed water containing caffeine, some had wheels on which they could run, some had both and a control group had neither.
Compared with the control animals, those drinking caffeine had a 95% increase in apoptosis in damaged cells. The exercisers showed a 120% increase, and the mice that were both drinking and running showed a nearly 400% increase.
The findings were unexpected, as researchers had originally intended to study effects of green tea in preventing skin cancer and were doing tests on regular and decaffeinated teas.
When they found it was the caffeinated, not the decaffeinated tea, that had an effect on mice, and that the mice drinking caffeine were more active than the others, they changed the focus of their study to investigate the two variables together —even putting running wheels into some of the cages.
And they found that both caffeine and exercise helped eliminate damaged skin cells, but the combination worked better than either alone.
Lu Y-P, Nolan B, Lou Y-R, Peng Q-Y, Wagner GC, Conney AH. Voluntary exercise together with oral caffeine markedly stimulates UVB light-induced apoptosis and decreases tissue fat in SKH-1 mice. PNAS. 2007;104:12936-12941.
