• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3195-3199
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• 2016

Background: Skin cancer is a group of heterogeneous malignancies, in general classified into non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) and melanoma skin cancer (MSC). Incidences are high in many parts in the world with considerable geographical and racial variation. In the Yemen, there has been scarce information about skin cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the demographic characteristics and histological trend of skin cancer in Southern Governorates of Yemen. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study covered 204 cases of skin cancer at the Modern Histopathology Laboratory and Aden Cancer Registry and Research Center, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Aden, for the period 2006-2013. Data were classified regarding different demographic and tumor related variables and analyzed using CanReg-4 for cancer registry and SPSS (version 21). Results: The commonest encountered skin cancer was NMSC (93.1%). Generally, skin cancer appears slightly more frequently in females than males with a 1:1.06 male: female ratio, with a mean age of 62.9 years. Slightly higher than one-third (36.3%) were from Aden governorate. The head and neck proved to be the most common site in both males and females (58%). Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common histological type of skin cancer (50.5%). Conclusions: Skin cancer is a common cancer in patients living in southern governorates of Yemen. The pattern appears nearly similar to the international figures with a low incidence of MSC.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.188-192
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• 1996

The biological behavior of mucosal melanoma is aggressive with frequent local recurrence and distant metastasis owing to the abundantly surrounding blood vessels and lymphatics adding to the fact that diagnosis is frequently delayed due to non-specific clinical outcome. The management for mucosal melanoma of the head and neck is controversial in view of the poor prognosis. Ten cases treated over the past 10 years are reported. The average age of the patients was 54.4 years. Seven cases were localized in the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses and three cases in the oral cavity and nasopharynx. Eight patients had local tumors, one had regional lymph node metastases and one hed lung metastases. Six patients underwent surgical resection, with postoperative radiotherapy in five patients, three patients received radiotherapy and one patient received combination therapy. Recurrence occured in 80% of the patients and the median time to recurrence was 10.5months. The median survival for those who received surgical resection followed by postoperative radiation therapy was 20.8 months and 14.7 months in the radiation therapy only treated group. The author's conclusion is that mucosal melanoma is a highly aggressive disease of the upper respiratory tract in which the best treatment modality is wide surgical resection followed by postoperative radiation therapy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.51-59
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• 2019

Purpose: We evaluated failure pattern and treatment outcomes of observational approach on regional lymph node (LN) in cutaneous melanoma of extremities and sought to find clinico-pathologic factors related to LN metastases. Material and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 73 patients with cutaneous melanoma of extremities between 2005 and 2016. If preoperative 18-F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) findings were non-specific for regional LNs, surgical resection of primary tumors with adequate margins was performed without sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and/or complete lymph node dissection (CLND), irrespective of tumor thickness or size. In patients with suspicious or positive findings on PET/CT or CT, SLNB followed by CLND or CLND was performed at the discretion of the surgeon. We defined LN dissection (LND) as SLNB and/or CLND. Results: With a median follow-up of 38 months (range, 6 to 138 months), the dominant pattern of failure was regional failure (17 of total 23 events, 74%) in the observation group (n = 56). Pathologic LN metastases were significant factor for poor regional failure-free survival (hazard ration [HR] = 3.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-10.33; p = 0.044) and overall survival (HR = 3.62; 95% CI, 1.02-12.94; p = 0.047) in multivariate analysis. In subgroup analysis for cN0 patients according to the preoperative PET/CT findings, LND group showed the better trend of LRFFS (log rank test, p = 0.192) and RFFS (p = 0.310), although which is not statistically significant. Conclusion: Observational approach on regional LNs on the basis of the PET/CT in patients with cutaneous melanoma of extremities showed the dominant regional failure pattern compared to upfront LND approach. To reveal regional lymph node status, SLND for cN0 patients may of importance in managing cutaneous melanoma patients.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2012

Objective : Paeoniae radix alba(PRA) can enrich the blood and regulate menstruation, astringe yin and arrest sweating, calm the liver and arrest pain. This study was designed to investigate effects of PRA on skin whitening and elasticity using melanoma cells. Methods : In this experiment, effect of PRA on cell viability, inhibition of melanin synthesis and inhibitory effect on tyrosinase and elastase. Results : 1. More than $1,000\;{\mu}g/ml$ of PRA treated group showed lowered proliferation rates significantly compared to non-treated control group. 2. All of treated groups were lower levels of melanin synthesis respectively. 3. PRA did not show inhibitory effect on tyrosinase activities in vitro. But, PRA suppressed tyrosinase activities in B16F10 cells significantly. 4. PRA suppressed elastse type 1 activities in dose-dependent manner in vitro. But, PRA slightly suppressed elastase type 4 activities in vitro, and PRA also slightly suppressed elastase activities in vivo. Conclusion : These results suggest that PRA can inhibit melanin synthesis through ihhibitory action on tyrosinase activity and inhibt elastase activity, and also suggest that these results can be used for the study on maintaining skin whitening or elasticity.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.302-308
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• 2019

The abscopal effect is a term that has been used to describe the phenomenon in which localized radiation therapy treatment of a tumor lesion triggers a spontaneous regression of metastatic lesion(s) at a non-irradiated distant site(s). Radiation therapy induced abscopal effects are believed to be mediated by activation and stimulation of the immune system. However, due to the brain's distinctive immune microenvironment, extracranial abscopal responses following cranial radiation therapy have rarely been reported. In this report, we describe the case of 42-year-old female patient with metastatic melanoma who experienced an abscopal response following her cranial radiation therapy for her brain metastasis. The patient initially presented with a stage III melanoma of the right upper skin of her back. Approximately 5 years after her diagnosis, the patient developed a large metastatic lesion in her upper right pectoral region of her chest wall and axilla. Since the patient's tumor was positive for BRAF and MEK, targeted therapy with dabrafenib and trametinib was initiated. However, the patient experienced central nervous system (CNS) symptoms of headache and disequilibrium and developed brain metastases prior to the start of targeted therapy. The patient received radiation therapy to a dose of 30 Gy delivered in 15 fractions to her brain lesions while the patient was on dabrafenib and trametinib therapy. The patient's CNS metastases improved significantly within weeks of her therapy. The patient's non-irradiated large extracranial chest mass and axilla mass also shrank substantially demonstrating the abscopal effect during her CNS radiation therapy. Following radiation therapy of her residual chest lesions, the patient was disease free clinically and her CNS lesions had regressed. However, when the radiation therapy ended and the patient continued her targeted therapy alone, recurrence outside of her previously treated fields was noted. The disease recurrence could be due to the possibility of developing BRAF resistance clones to the BRAF targeted therapy. The patient died eventually due to wide spread systemic disease recurrence despite targeted therapy.

• Journal of Photoscience
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.236-239
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• 2002

Sunscreens have been advocated as an important means of preventing skin cancer. UV-induced immunosuppression is important for skin cancer development, yet the effectiveness of sunscreens in protecting the human immune system from UV radiation is unclear. The only currently accepted method of sunscreen rating is the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) based on prevention of erythema. We developed an in vivo non-invasive method for evaluating protection of the human immune system from UV radiation based on recall contact sensitivity to nickel, a common allergen. Using this system we showed that broad-spectrum sunscreens provide greater protection to the immune system than sunscreens which protect from UVB only. UVA was found to be immunosuppressive. We developed this technique to enable the study of solar simulated UV radiation dose responses and determined Immune Protection Factors (IPFs) for six commercially available sunscreens based on limits of protection from the dose response data. We found that the IPF did not correlate with the SPF and that protection from erythema therefore cannot be used to predict protection of the immune system. However, IPF was significantly correlated to the UVA protective capability of the sunscreens, indicating that sunscreen protection from UVA is important for prevention of immunosuppression. We recommend that sunscreens should be rated against their immune protective capability to provide a better indication of their ability to protect against skin cancer.

• BMB Reports
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• v.43 no.7
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• pp.461-467
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• 2010

Natural products with non-toxic and environmentally friendly properties are good resources for skin-whitening cosmetic agents when compared to artificial synthetic chemicals. Here, we investigated the effect of glyceollin produced to induce disease resistance responses of soybean to specific races of an incompatible pathogen, phytophthora sojae, on melanogenesis and discussed their mechanisms in melanin biosynthesis. We found that glyceollin inhibits melanin synthesis and tyrosinase activity in B16 melanoma cells without cytotoxicity. To elucidate the mechanism of the effect of glyceollin on melanogenesis, we conducted western blot analysis for melanogenic enzymes such as tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein-1 (TRP-1), and TRP-2. Glyceollin inhibited tyrosinase and TRP-1 protein expression. Additionally, glyceollin effectively inhibited intracellular cAMP levels in B16 melanoma cells stimulated by $\alpha$-melanocyte stimulating hormone ($\alpha$-MSH). These results suggest that the whitening activity of glyceollin may be due to the inhibition of cAMP involved in the signal pathway of $\alpha$-MSH in B16 melanoma cells.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1551-1556
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• 2014

Background: Transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8), a principle membrane receptor involved in calcium ion influx and cell signal transduction, has been found to be up-regulated in some cancer types, including melanomas. Efficiency of menthol, an agonist of TRPM8, in killing melanoma cancer cells has been reported previously, but the mechanisms remain unclear. We here determined whether in vitro cytotoxic effects of menthol on A-375 human malignant melanoma cells might be related to TRPM8 transcript expression. Materials and Methods: The $PrestoBlue^{(R)}$ cell viability assay was used to assess the in vitro cytotoxic effect of menthol after 24h of treatment. RT-PCR was used to quantify TRPM8 transcript expression levels in normal and menthol-treated cells. Cell morphology was observed under inverted phase contrast light microscopy. Results: TRPM8 transcript expression was found at low levels in A-375 cells and down-regulated in a potentially dose-dependent manner by menthol. Menthol exerted in vitro cytotoxic effects on A-375 cells with an $IC_{50}$ value of 11.8 ${\mu}M$, which was at least as effective as 5-fluorouracil ($IC_{50}=120{\mu}M$), a commonly applied chemotherapeutic drug. Menthol showed no dose-dependent cytotoxicity on HeLa cells, a TRPM8 non-expressing cell line. Conclusions: The cytotoxic effects on A-375 cells caused by menthol might be related to reduction of the TRPM8 transcript level. This suggests that menthol might activate TRPM8 to increase cytosolic $Ca^{2+}$ levels, which leads to cytosolic $Ca^{2+}$ imbalance and triggers cell death.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.89-93
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• 2020

In this study, the efficacy of melanoma cell B16F10 was investigated using the Korean native plant Oplismenus undulatifolius (OU). First, the cell viability of the extract was more than 90% when treated with 15 ㎍/mL of phenolics from OU. The results showed that melanin biosynthesis and cellular tyrosinase synthesis were inhibited by treatment with α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone-stimulated mouse melanoma cell B16F10 at a concentration of 15 ㎍/mL of phenolics for cell-line efficacy. The expression of tyrosinase, tyrosinase-related protein (TRP)-1, TRP-2, and microphthalmia transcription factor (MITF) protein was confirmed by western blot to investigate the effect of phenolics from OU on melanin biosynthesis. When treated with phenolics from OU 15 ㎍/mL, tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, and MITF decreased the protein expression level. In particular, tyrosinase, TRP-1, and MITF inhibited the production amount to a level similar to that of the non-treated normal group, indicating that the effect was excellent. Therefore, phenolics from OU acts as an inhibitor of tyrosinase, TRP-1, TRP-2, and its transcription factor MITF, and participates in melanin biosynthesis mechanism. These results suggested the potential for development as a material.

• Proceedings of the SCSK Conference
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• 2003.09b
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• pp.544-544
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• 2003

We investigated the inhibitory effect of whitening materials with growth factor or alone on melanomas derived from Human (B-16) and mouse (SK-MEL-31) using melanin content. Melanin content was determined by the absorbance value at 470nm per cells. we used the growth factors known as activators of Adenylate cyclase, Protein kinase C and tyrosine kinase pathway separately. In addition, we compared the action of UV-induced with non-biological growth factor with whitening materials in melanomas derived from Human and mouse. The results showed that the aspect of inhibitory effect of whitening materials on B16 and SK-MEL-31 was not different. And, the action of each growth factor involved in the differentiation and proliferation of melanoma on the inhibition of melanogenesis in B-16 and SK-MEL-31 using whitening agents showed no difference. Also, The action of UV -induced and non-biological growth factors didn't exhibit different pattern on the effect of whitening agent in B-16 and SK-MEL-31.