• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.337-342
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• 2016

Melasma has several well-recognized etiologic factors, but most researches focus on melanogenesis. The purpose of this study is to show improvement of melasma by reducing vascularity distinguished from melanogenesis. We examined 20 Korean women with both melasma and solar lentigo that were visually assessed by a dermatologist. The volunteers applied functional cosmetics for 8 weeks. We analyzed the results obtained using the chromameter, evaluating the skin color of three areas (melasma lesions, solar lentigo lesions, and non-lesional skin) on the face of volunteer. There was a statistically significant improvement in the brightness and redness of melasma lesions compared to those of non-lesional skin after 8 weeks. Also, we observed that the improvements in the brightness of melasma lesions and solar lentigo lesions were similar. However, the redness of melasma lesions improved more than that of solar lentigo lesions with statistical significance after 8 weeks. In this study, we have shown that brightness and redness in melasma lesions can be improved by functional cosmetics. Thus, we suggest redness to be an additional suitable parameter for the evaluation of melasma lesions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10451-10456
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• 2015

Background: We defined melanoma distribution in a large series of Turkish patients and evaluated the prognostic parameters of melanomas. Materials and Methods: A total of 1574 patients' data was retrospectively collected at 18 centers in Turkey. Demographic characteristics were questioned and noted. Prognostic parametres were evaluated based on sentinel lymph node involvement. Results: Mean age was 56.7 (4-99) years. While 844 (53.6%) cases were male, 730 (46.4%) cases were female. One thousand four hundred forty-seven (92%) cases were invasive melanoma and 127 (8%) cases were in-situ melanoma. The most common histopathological form was the superficial spreading melanoma (SSM) which was found in 549 patients (37.9%). It was followed by nodular melanoma in 379 (26.2%), acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) in 191 (13.2%) and lentigo maligna melanoma in 132 (9.1%), respectively. On univariate analysis, lymphovascular invasion (p<0.001), tumor thickness (p<0.001), histopathological subtype (p<0.001), Clark level (p=0.001), ulceration (p<0.001), ${\geq}6/mm^2$ mitosis (p=0.005), satellite formation (p=0.001) and gender (p=0.03) were found to be associated with sentinel lymph node positivity. Regression was associated with sentinel lymph node negativity (p=0.017). According to multivariate analysis, lymphovascular invasion and tumor thickness were significant independent predictive factors of SLN positivity. Patient age, tumor localization, precursor lesions, lymphocytic infiltration and neurotropism were not related with sentinel lymph node involvement. Conclusions: In this retrospective analysis, it was found that the prevalence of SSM is at a lower rate while the prevalence of ALM is at a higher rate when compared to western countries. According to Breslow index; most of the melanoma lesions' thickness were greater than 2 mm, corresponding Clark IV. Vascular invasion and tumor thickness are the most important factors for sentinel lymph node involvement.