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Author Interviews, Dermatology, Infections / 01.02.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Wenquan Zou, MD, PhD Associate Professor Departments of Pathology and Neurology Director of CJD Skin Project Associate Director National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center Institute of Pathology Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Cleveland, Ohio 44106 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain the significance of prion-induced diseases and why they have been difficult to diagnosis? Response: Our previous study has demonstrated that infectious prions are detectable in the skin samples of patients with sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD), the most common form of human prion disease, at the terminal stage by the highly sensitive real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay and animal-based bioassay. The prion-induced diseases are significant because they are infectious diseases that can be transmitted inter-species and intra-species. For instance, mad cow disease, a prion disease in cattle, has been documented to transmit to humans. Currently, there are no cures for these fatal diseases. The definite diagnosis of prion diseases is difficult because it mainly depends on the availability of brain tissues obtained either by biopsy or autopsy for detection of prions. Brain biopsy is highly invasive and it is difficult to be accepted by patients and their families. Even for brain autopsy, it is not always feasible because of religious and cultural limitations in some regions or countries.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Diabetes, JAMA / 15.01.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dong Hyun Kim M.D. Associate professor Department of Dermatology CHA Bundang Medical Center CHA University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: As a dermatologist, we see many patients with newly diagnosed with bullous pemphigoid (BP), many of whom have diabetes. The use of DPP-4 inhibitors is a common treatment for diabetes, we have noted previous case reports that DPP-4 inhibitors may be the cause of BP. For this reason, we started this study. The most important thing in my article is DPP-4 inhibitors, particularly vildagliptin, may be associated with the development of bullous pemphigoid in male patients with diabetes. We have confirmed these points based on the nationwide, population-based study. It is very meaningful because there have been few studies using large sample sizes so far. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Education / 13.01.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yssra-SolimanYssra S. Soliman, BA Division of Dermatology, Department of Internal Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, New York MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: As the population of the United States becomes increasingly diverse, certain fields within medicine have not followed this trend. Dermatology is the least diverse field after orthopedics. We wanted to understand what barriers prevent medical students from applying to dermatology and whether these barriers differed based on students' racial, ethnic or socioeconomic backgrounds. The main findings of this study are that certain groups are more likely to cite specific barriers than non-minority students. These barriers are significant deterrents to applying to dermatology and include the lack of diversity in dermatology, negative perceptions of minority students by residency programs, socioeconomic barriers such as lack of loan forgiveness and poor accessibility to mentors.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Global Health, Infections, PLoS / 28.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael Marks MRCP DTM&H PhD Clinical Research Department, Faculty of Infectious & Tropical Diseases London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Hospital for Tropical Diseases London, United Kingdom Twitter @dr_michaelmarks Daniel Engelman MBBS; BMedSci; MPHTM; FRACP; PhD Centre for International Child Health, University of Melbourne, Tropical Diseases Research Group Murdoch Children’s Research Institute Melbourne, Australia Twitter @Dan_Engelman                   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? MM: Scabies is extremely common. Globally in the region of 100-200 million people are believed to be affected by scabies annually. Recently the WHO has recognised Scabies as a ‘Neglected Tropical Disease’ in response to this burden of disease. There has been increasing interest in using Mass Drug Administration (treating whole communities) as a strategy to control scabies in communities. In order to make this practical countries need an easy mechanism for establishing if scabies is a significant problem in their communities. In general when treating an individual, clinicians would conduct a full body examination to diagnose scabies – however this may not be practical or necessary when making decisions about whether to treat whole communities. DE: Despite the fact that Scabies is a very common condition that causes a great deal of health problems, it has been largely neglected by health, research and funding agencies – but pleasingly, the WHO has now started to take action on scabies control, starting with the recognition of scabies as a "Neglected Tropical Disease" (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA, NYU / 19.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nicholas A. Soter, MD The Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology New York University School of Medicine New York, New York MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Nearly 50% of patients with chronic spontaneous urticarial (CSU) (hives) incompletely respond to first-line therapy with H-1 antihistamines. However, in the current literature, there is limited evidence to guide the treatment of CSU after maximal therapy with antihistamines fails.  Two small, randomized, controlled trials suggest that dapsone, which is an antimicrobial therapeutic agent with anti-inflammatory properties, may be a useful second-line therapeutic agent. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology / 15.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Kristine A. Romine MD CEO and Founder of Camelback Dermatology & Skin Surgery Phoenix, AZ MedicalResearch.com: Would you give a brief overview of the different types of skin cancer? Response: There are multiple types of skin cancer, including: melanoma, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and actinic keratosis. Known as the deadliest form of skin cancer, melanoma develops when irreparable DNA damage results in malignant transformation of melanocytes. This type of skin cancer is most commonly caused by intense UV exposure from the sun or tanning beds, which activate mutations that lead skin cells to rapidly multiply and form malignant tumors. Melanoma can range in color from dark brown to black and are rarely red or even skin colored. They are usually irregular and asymmetrical. In 2018, there were an estimated 91,270 new cases of melanoma (American Cancer Society, 2018). Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common type of skin cancer and cancer diagnosed. BCCs arise in the skins’ outermost layers. BCCs resemble open sores, red or pink plaques, pearly nodules with telangiectasia, or scars. It is estimated that 4.3 million BCCs are diagnosed in the U.S. every year (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2018). Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), the second most common type of skin cancer, arises from the squamous cells in the skin that have been exposed to UV over long periods of time. SCCs appear as scaly red or pink macules, papules, or plaques. They can be crusted and appear eroded and can commonly arise within a solar keratosis. More than 1 million cases of SCC are diagnosed in the U.S. every year (Skin Cancer Foundation, 2018). Lastly, actinic keratoses (AKs) are the most common pre-cancerous skin growth that can develop into a SCC if left untreated. Similar to all other types, AKs are caused by exposure to UV light and, in rare cases, high exposures to x-rays. AKs can appear on sun-exposed areas, including the face, scalp, ears, shoulders, and legs. They resemble pink, scaly rough patches on the skin. (more…)
Author Interviews / 11.12.2018

MedicalResearch.comInterview with:

polarized-light-dermatoscope-wikipedia-image

Jac Dinnes PhD, MSc, MA, PGDip
Senior Researcher
Test Evaluation Research Group
Institute of Applied Health Research
University of Birmingham

MedicalResearch.com:  What is thebackground for this study? Would you briefly explain the benefits of dermoscopy?

Response: This systematic review was one of a series of Cochrane Reviews of studies evaluating different tests for diagnosing skin cancer. Within creasing rates of skin cancer and an increasing number of more specialised tests becoming available in both primary care and in specialist settings, a thorough review of all available evidence was timely.

The diagnosis of melanoma and other skin cancers fundamentally relies on clinical examination, including history taking, and visual inspection of the concerning skin lesion (mole or patch of skin) and surrounding skin (and other lesions). A dermatoscope is a handheld device using visible light (such as from incandescent or LED bulbs), that allows more detailed examination of the skin compared to examination by the naked eye alone.

Knowing the diagnostic accuracy of dermoscopy added to visual inspection alone, across a range of observers and settings, is critical to understanding its contribution for the diagnosis of melanoma and to future understanding of the potential role of the growing number of other high-resolution image analysis techniques.

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Author Interviews / 11.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Kenneth H. Kraemer,M.D.
Chief DNA Repair Section
Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Genetics, Center for Cancer Research
National Cancer Institute

MedicalResearch.com:  What is the background for this study?

Response: At the National Cancer Institute, we have been examining patients with xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), a rare, recessively inherited, cancer-prone disease for many years. Therefore, with the increasing use of exome sequencing, we decided to see how closely"big data" corresponded with our clinical observations.  

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Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA, Technology / 01.12.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Philipp Tschandl, MD PhD, Priv.Doz. Assistant Professor Department of Dermatology Medical University of Vienna MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Dermatoscopy is a non-invasive imaging technique, where the surface of the skin is rendered translucent and additional important morphologic features become visible from deeper layers. This is achieved through use of immersion fluid or cross-polarised light - equivalent to the effect when using a pair of goggles to look underwater, or polarised sunglasses to reduce glare on glass surfaces. After the first description of “Dermatoskopie" almost 100 years ago by a German dermatologist (Johann Saphier), this technique has evolved to a successful, low-cost, state-of-the-art technique for clinical skin cancer detection in the last decades. Convolutional neural networks (“CNN”) are powerful machine learning methods, and frequently applied to medical image data in the recent scientific literature. They are highly accurate for basic image classification tasks in experimental settings, and found to be as good as dermatologists in melanoma recognition on clinical or dermatoscopic images. In this study we trained a CNN to diagnose non-pigmented skin lesions (where melanomas are only a minority) through analysis of digital images, and compared the accuracy to >90 human readers including 62 board-certified dermatologists. This study expands knowledge in the following ways compared to previous work: - We applied the network for the detection of non-pigmented skin cancer, which is far more common in the (caucasian) population than melanoma. - We created a prediction model that combines analysis of a dermatoscopic and clinical image (“cCNN”) which is able to further increase diagnostic accuracy. - We compared accuracy not only to experts, but users with different level of experience (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, JAMA / 26.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Tarun Narang MD MNAMS Department of Dermatology, Venereology, and Leprology Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research Chandigarh, India MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Acne is one of the most common dermatological problem for which the patients seek medical care. Post acne scarring is a complication of acne, resulting in long lasting physical disfigurement and low self esteem in the affected individuals. Even though there are various methods like microneedling, chemical peeling, cryorolling and ablative lasers to address the post acne atrophic scarring, these procedures are office based hence physician dependent. A home based treatment modality that can treat post acne atrophic scarring with a comparable efficacy to the procedural modalities of treatment will be beneficial to the patient. Our study was done to assess the efficacy of a topical modality of treatment, tazarotene gel, 0.1% in the management of post acne atrophic scarring in comparison to an established method, the microneedling. (more…)
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, JAMA, Melanoma / 24.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Reza Ghiasvand, PhD Oslo Centre for Biostatistics and Epidemiology Faculty of Medicne University of Oslo Oslo, Norway  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Melanoma is the most dangerous type of skin cancer. It is estimated that about 288,000 individuals will be diagnosed and about 61,000 will die from it in 2018, with the majority of patients in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. Ultraviolet (UV) exposure (from both the sun and tanning beds) is the most important preventable risk factor for melanoma. However, the association between UV exposure and melanoma is complex and does not accord with a simple model in which risk increases directly with exposure. An individual risk of melanoma also depends on personal characteristics such as skin color and skin sensitivity to the UV exposure, hair color, number of moles, and age. It has been hypothesized that the pattern of UV exposure may play a role in melanoma development in different body sites. For example, melanoma on the trunk (chest and back) has been linked to the recreational UV exposure such as sunbathing and frequent sunburns in people with high number of moles on their body. In contrast, melanomas on the head and neck have been linked to constant sun exposure such as occupational UV exposure, mainly in older people. Epidemiologic and molecular evidence in support of this hypothesis has been published based on analyses of small datasets. Also, melanoma on legs and arms is less studied under this hypothesis. In our study, we examined UV exposure (sunbathing, sunburn and sunbed use) and pigmentary factors (skin, eye, and hair color, freckling, and number of moles), and risk of melanoma on different body sites. We used information from the Norwegian Women and Cancer Study, a population-based cohort study that started in 1991, and includes more than 161,000 Norwegian women followed for an average of 18 years. (more…)
Allergies, Author Interviews, Dermatology, Immunotherapy, JAMA / 17.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Christopher S. Lee, PhD, RN, FAHA, FAAN, FHFSA Professor and Associate Dean for Research Boston College William F. Connell School of Nursing Chestnut Hill, MA 02467 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Although the efficacy of omalizumab (i.e. can it work?) in the treatment of chronic idiopathic (spontaneous) urticaria has been established in clinical trials, the effectiveness of omalziumab (i.e. does it work?) in the real-world management is less well established. The purpose of this study was to synthesize what is known about the benefits and harms of omalizumab as used in real-world treatment of Chronic Idiopathic (Spontaneous) Urticaria. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Environmental Risks / 15.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Audra Stinchcomb, PhD Principal Investigator Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences University of Maryland School of Pharmacy MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?   Response: We have been studying the heat effects and repeated dose effects on the absorption of drugs across the skin for more than 5 years.  We were curious to see if the effects we saw on gel, cream, and ointment pharmaceuticals also occurred with sunscreen. Sunscreens are typically used in the hot sun and with reapplication every 80 minutes or so, depending on the product and user. (more…)
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Toxin Research / 09.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Protect Coral Reefs" by NOAA's National Ocean Service is licensed under CC BY 2.0Ariel Kushmaro and Esti Kramarsky-Winter Department of Biotechnology Engineering, Ben Gurion University Beer Sheva, Israel The Republic of Palau, a South Pacific island nation, became the world's first country to ban sunscreen products containing environmentally harmful ingredients MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this announcement? What are the main findings?  Response: Coral reefs are important ecosystems that are under threat due to global human driven climate change. In addition to global changes, local hazards such as point pollution by eutrophication, dredging and chemical pollution are exacerbating and promoting reef destruction at local levels. This destruction affects not only island nations that depend on these reefs for protection and livelihood, they affect humanity as a whole as they are an important source for food and novel drugs and new materials. Our recent studies have shown that chemicals found in most commercial sunscreens and creams used to protect humans from deleterious effects of UV A and UVB wash off into the environment are persistent, have endocrine disruptive effects, and thus deleteriously affect marine organisms including corals.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Environmental Risks / 15.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Janet Prystowsky, MD Dr. Prystowsky is a leading board-certified dermatologist in New York City.   In addition to her private practice, Dr. Prystowsky is a senior attending physician at Mount Sinai Roosevelt/St. Luke’s Medical Center. http://www.janetprystowskymd.com/ MedicalResearch.com: When does sun damage to the skin start?  Is there such a thing as a 'safe tan'?  Who is most susceptible to photoaging?  What parts of the body are more likely to show signs of sun damage?  Response: Sun damage will increase a person’s risk of premature aging and skin cancer.  Although tanning does function to help protect your skin from excessive ultraviolet radiation tanning is still a form of sun damage.  Also, people with very fair skin may not tan at all; only burn.  They are the most susceptible to sun damage. Certain medical conditions (e.g., Lupus), medications, cosmetics, and food can make your more reactive (photosensitive) to sunlight. "Sunburn" by Kelly Sue DeConnick is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0Sunburns are caused by UV damage from sun rays, almost entirely due to UVB rays. UVA rays are weaker for burning but can contribute to blistering sunburns as well. For example, If you get lime peel rubbed on your skin while you are in the sun, you could get a bad burn.  UVA can also cause significant skin damage that can result in premature wrinkling, brown spots, and skin cancer. That's why you'll see dermatologists pushing for broad-spectrum sunscreens as opposed to sunscreens that just protect against UVB rays.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Pharmaceutical Companies / 09.10.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: foamixDavid Domzalski CEO Foamix Pharmaceuticals MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?  How does FMX101 differ from other treatment for acne, ie benzoyl peroxide, topical clindamycin etc?  Response: This study measures the safety and efficacy of a topical foam formulation of the antibiotic minocycline, for the treatment of moderate-to-severe acne. Minocycline is one of the most commonly used products for the treatment of acne, but is currently only available in an oral dosage form. Significant side effects are associated with oral minocycline, including GI upset, photosensitivity, headaches, dizziness, and other potential effects on the CNS.  In addition to the side effects associated with oral minocycline, many currently available topical acne medications contain ingredients which can be drying and irritating to the skin.  These side effects can be frustrating to patients and potentially impact overall compliance to their treatment regimen.  The study addresses important unmet needs in dermatology to determine whether providing patients with a topical dosage form of minocycline may have potential advantages over existing products. In our first two Phase 3 clinical studies, >95% of facial local tolerability signs and symptoms were classified as “none” or “mild,” including dryness, erythema and itching.  Also, our topical minocycline foam, FMX101, is a natural triglyceride-based vehicle that does not contain ingredients that serve as  primary irritants or surfactants.  We believe that FMX101, if approved, would be the first topical minocycline available for the treatment of acne and provide a novel and much needed treatment option for patients who suffer from the physical and psycho-social effects of acne. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Gender Differences, JAMA, Race/Ethnic Diversity, Social Issues / 27.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Raghav Tripathi, MPH Case Western Reserve University MD Candidate, Class of 2021 MedicalResearch.com: Why did you decide to perform this study? Response: Differences in the impact of dermatologic conditions on different groups have been of interest to our research group for a long time. Previously, our group had found differences in time to treatment for patients with different skin cancers. Beyond this, we had found differences in mortality and incidence of various skin conditions (controlling for other factors) in different racial groups/ethnicities, socioeconomic groups, demographic groups, and across the rural-urban continuum. The goal of this study was to investigate socioeconomic and demographic differences in utilization of outpatient dermatologic care across the United States. As demographics throughout the country become more diverse, understanding differences in utilization of dermatologic care is integral to developing policy approaches to increasing access to care across the country.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Eli Lilly / 25.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lotus Mallbris, M.D., Ph.D., Vice president, Immunology Development Lilly Bio-Medicines  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: By exploring creative clinical approaches and patient-centric pathways to more thoroughly address the key aspects of treating these complex conditions, Lilly is bringing innovation forward in hopes of reducing the burden of dermatologic disease for people around the world. The results of the IXORA-S study suggest that Taltz may provide significantly greater clearance of nail psoriasis than ustekinumab. This is significant because nail lesions are a common feature of psoriasis. It’s often associated with discomfort, which can lead to functional impairment and distress, further supporting the importance of complete clearance.   (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Cost of Health Care, Dermatology, Emory, JAMA, Medicare / 21.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: “Actinic Keratosis” by Ed Uthman is licensed under CC BY 2.0Howa Yeung, MD Assistant Professor of Dermatology Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, GA 30322  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain what is meant by actinic keratoses? Response: Actinic keratoses are common precancerous skin lesions caused by sun exposure. Because actinic keratoses may develop into skin cancers such as squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma, they are often treated by various destructive methods. We used Medicare Part B billing claims to estimate the number and cost of treated actinic keratoses from 2007 to 2015. MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?  Response: While the number of Medicare Part B beneficiaries increased only moderately, the number of actinic keratoses treated by destruction rose from 29.7 million in 2007 to 35.6 million in 2015. Medicare paid an average annual amount of $413.1 million for actinic keratosis destruction from 2007 to 2015. Independently billing non-physician clinicians, including advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants, are treating an increasing proportion of actinic keratosis, peaking at 13.5% in 2015. MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report? Response: Readers should understand that the burden of actinic keratosis treatment is increasing in the Medicare population. There is also an increasing proportion of actinic keratoses being treated by advanced practice registered nurses and physician assistants.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Technology / 19.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: photostimulation of hair growthHan Eol Lee Ph.D. Flexible and Nanobio Device Lab. Department of Materials Science and Engineering KAIST MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Numerous people around the world have suffered from alopecia, which leads to aesthetic issues, low self-esteem, and social anxiety. With the population expansion alopecia patients from middle-age down even to the twenties, a depilation treatment is expected to have social and medical impacts on billions of patients. The causes of alopecia are generally known to be heredity, mental stress, aging, and elevated male hormone. Therapeutic techniques such as thermal, electrical, pharmacological, and optical stimulation have been proposed to treat hair problems. Among them, laser stimulation to hair-lost regions is a promising technique, activating the anagen phase and the proliferation of hair follicles without side effects. However, this laser stimulation technique has drawbacks, such as high power consumption, large size, and restrictive use in daily life (e.g., the difficulty of microscale spatial control and the long time exposure of high-energy laser).  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Environmental Risks, JAMA, Melanoma / 15.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lori A. Crane, PhD Department of Community and Behavioral Health Colorado School of Public Health University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora CO  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Nevi, which are commonly called “moles”, are brown or black spots on the skin that are usually raised.  Moles are the number one risk factor for malignant melanoma, the most dangerous kind of skin cancer.  About 9,000 people die of melanoma each year in the U.S. The more moles a person has, the higher their risk for melanoma.  Sun exposure is a major factor in the development of moles, and in order to prevent melanoma, it is important to better understand how moles are formed on the skin. Most moles are formed during childhood and adolescence.  We studied non-Hispanic and Hispanic white children age 3-16 and found that non-Hispanic children developed many more moles than Hispanic children.  Overall, boys developed more moles than girls, but there were some important differences.  For parts of the skin that are often covered by clothing but sometimes exposed to the sun, such as the chest and back, upper arms and upper legs, girls developed more moles than boys, especially among Hispanic children.  In contrast, for parts of the skin that are usually exposed to the sun, such as the face, boys developed many more moles than girls.  The development of moles leveled off by age 16 for parts of the skin usually exposed to the sun, while for the less often exposed skin, children continued to develop moles to age 16. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Education, Gender Differences, JAMA / 03.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lia E. Gracey, MD, PhD Department of Dermatology Baylor Scott & White Health Austin, Texas  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: The co-authors and I were interested in this issue as new parent leave (or the lack thereof) is increasingly being examined in many professions.  As a mother who had children during dermatology residency, I felt the pressure to take a short new parent leave to avoid having to make up time at the end of my training. I came back to work only 3 ½ weeks after having my first baby. Anecdotally, other new parent residents (both men and women) reported similar concerns and we noticed a lack of data about new parent leave policies in dermatology residency training programs. We distributed surveys to dermatology residency program directors and residents and were struck by a basic lack of awareness by residents for whether their institution even offered new parent leave.  Less than 50% of surveyed residents were aware of a written new parent leave policy for their residency program, yet over 80% of program directors stated they had a policy in place. We also found discrepancies between resident and program director perceptions of sufficiency of new parent leave and the availability of pumping facilities for breastfeeding mothers.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology, Science / 01.09.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Andrew South, PhD, Associate Professor in the department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology at Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University)  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain what is meant by Butterfly Syndrome or recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa? Response: Epidermolysis Bullosa, or EB, is a group of genetic diseases caused by mutations in genes which play a role in maintaining skin integrity. An EB patients’ skin can be very fragile which has been likened to butterfly wings, which are also very fragile. Skin blisters are common in EB patients and in some cases large wounds can result from the slightest mechanical trauma, hence the term Butterfly Syndrome. Skin cancer is a major complication of patients with the recessive dystrophic subtype of EB, known as recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa or RDEB, and these cancers, called squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), are very aggressive. SCC is the leading cause of death in patients with RDEB. SCC also arise very early, affecting RDEB patients in their 20’s and 30’s. Our study used genetic analysis of cancers collected from patients to try and determine what causes the cancer at such an early age and what causes these cancers to be so fatal. Skin SCC arising in the general population as a result of sun exposure are generally benign and occur much later in life, regular skin SCC patients are predominantly over the age of 60, therefore something must be different about RDEB SCC.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Vaccine Studies / 30.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eric Huang, PhD Professor, Department of Dermatology University of California, San Diego MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? To whom would the vaccine be targeted?  Affected individuals?  Patients with strong family history? Resistant acne cases? Response: The background for this study is to develop vaccines to replace the antibiotics which may induce resistant bacteria. Preventive acne vaccines will be used for injection into elementary students to prevent the acne development when they become teenagers. Therapeutic acne vaccines using monoclonal antibodies will be used for those patients who already have acne vulgaris. Both patients with strong family history and resistant acne cases are highly recommended to use when the acne vaccines are available.   (more…)
Abuse and Neglect, Dermatology, Leukemia, Lymphoma, Melanoma / 15.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Clive S. Zent MD Professor of Medicine Director of Lymphoma/CLL Program Wilmot Cancer Institute University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester NY MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL) have an increased risk of all skin cancers including malignant melanoma. This study in a stable population of CLL patients managed by a regional referral center confirmed that melanoma was over 6 times more common in than in an age and sexed matched general population. Because of the proactive skin screening program at the University of Rochester Medical Center’s Wilmot Cancer Center, most melanomas (77%) were detected at earlier stages and were treated surgically with curative intent. One patient with CLL and metastatic melanoma had a sustained remission of both diseases on treatment with ibrutinib and pembrolizumab. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Environmental Risks / 04.08.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: sunscreen creative commonsAdela J. Li, PhD Research Affiliate Wadsworth Center, Rm. D597 New York State Dept. of Health Empire State Plaza Albany, NY, 12201-0509 On the behalf of Dr. Kelvin Leung  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: Most people love the beach. In order to block the sun’s damaging UV radiation, people generally slather on a thick layer of sunscreen against sunburn and skin cancer. Sunscreen is suggested to be re-applied every few hours regarding its effectiveness as well as being washed off into the water. These UV filters have been detected in the environment but most studies concluded that individual sunscreen chemicals pose no/low risk to animals or human. However, UV filters constitute a heterogeneous group of chemicals in sunscreens. We are wondering if combination of UV filters would induce higher toxicity than individual compounds, and whether these chemical interactions would develop over time, becoming increasingly dangerous to the living systems. Our study found seven of the nine UV filters in Shenzhen waters, China --- a rapidly urbanized city with over 20 popular recreational beaches, surprisingly, a reservoir and tap water. After exposing artemia to three dominant UV filters and then feeding these artemia to zebrafish adults, concentrations in both were up to 4 times higher when exposed to the mixtures than when exposed to only a single UV filter. A short-term of 25-day dietary exposure to the zebrafish adults did not appear to significantly influence early life stage development of the second generation; however, relatively long exposure over 47 days had significant adverse effects on embryo development. (more…)
Aging, Author Interviews, Dermatology, Environmental Risks, JAMA, Technology / 25.07.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Startup Screen Dermatology APPDr. med. Titus Brinker Head of App-Development // Clinician Scientist Department of Translational Oncology National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Department of Dermatology University Hospital Heidelberg Heidelberg MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: ​While everyone in the dermatologic community appears to agree on the importance of UV-protection for skin cancer prevention, busy clinicians often lack time to address it with their patients. Thus, the aim of this study was to make use of waiting rooms that almost every patient visiting a clinic spends time in and address this topic in this setting by the means of modern technology rather than clinicians time. We used our free photoaging app "Sunface" which shows the consequences of bad UV protection vs. good UV protection on the users' own 3D-animated selfie 5 to 25 years in the future and installed it on an iPad. The iPad was then centrally placed into the waiting room of our outpatient clinic on a table and had the Sunface App running permanently. The mirroring of the screen lead to a setting where every patient in the waiting room would see and eventually react to the selfie taken by one individual patient which was altered by the Sunface App. Thus, the intervention was able to reach a large proportion of patients visiting our clinic: 165 (60.7%) of the 272 patients visiting our waiting room in the seven days the intervention was implemented either tried it themselves (119/72,12%) or watched another patient try the app (46/27,9%) even though our outpatient clinic is well organized and patients have to wait less than 20 minutes on average. Longer waiting times should yield more exposure to the intervention. Of the 119 patients who tried the app, 105 (88.2%) indicated that the intervention motivated them to increase their sun protection (74 of 83 men [89.2%]; 31 of 34 women [91.2%]) and to avoid indoor tanning beds (73 men [87.9%]; 31 women [91.2%]) and that the intervention was perceived as fun (83 men [98.8%]; 34 women [97.1%]). (more…)