Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Dermatology, NEJM / 11.02.2021

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jane Fang, MD Clinical Athenex, Inc.  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you briefly explain what is meant by actinic keratoses? How common are they and who is primarily affected? Response: Actinic keratosis is a very common precancerous skin condition that affects about 58 millions people in the US. Most commonly affected people are older (over 40 years old) men with fair skin type. Actinic keratosis lesions are red scaly bumps on sun-damaged skin mostly on the face, scalp, back of hands, forearms and legs. As there is a risk of 0.025-16% per year for each actinic keratosis to progress to skin cancer and it is not possible to predict which actinic keratosis will become cancerous, early treatment of actinic keratosis is generally recommended. Currently approved topical treatments require weeks or months of application and may lead to intolerable side effects that undermine compliance and reduce efficacy of treatment. Tirbanibulin ointment is a novel anti-proliferative agent that inhibits tubulin polymerization and disrupts Src kinase signaling, and has the potential to inhibit growth of abnormal skin cells in actinic keratosis. The current report described two Phase 3 randomized vehicle or placebo-controlled clinical studies that demonstrated that a 5-day course of tirbanibulin ointment applied once daily by patients was safe, well-tolerated, and effective in clearing actinic keratosis on the face or scalp compared to vehicle control. (more…)
Author Interviews, Environmental Risks, Global Health, Melanoma / 10.10.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Suzanne Dobbinson, PhD Senior Research Fellow Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Behavioural Science Division Australia MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Skin cancer prevention programs, such as the SunSmart program in Victoria, have been implemented in Australia over 30 years with the aim of reducing the population’s exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UV), the main cause of skin cancer. A recent reduction in melanoma rates among younger Australians has led to this paper which examines the extent of behaviour change in Melbourne, Australia, and the potential contribution of prevention programs to the decline in melanoma rates. Previous population-based studies assessing the impact of these programs have focused on measuring the change in the prevalence of individual sun protection behaviours, and thus have largely overlooked the use of sun avoidance and composite sun protection behaviours. The focus on tracking individual behaviours may have underestimated the behaviour change associated with these programs. We analysed data from a series of cross-sectional surveys conducted in Melbourne during summer months between 1987 and 2017. These data include the summer before the SunSmart program commenced (1987-88) and across summers in three subsequent decades. (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…)
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…)