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Importance Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a novel therapy for alopecia. Although the use of PRP remains under investigation, medical practitioners administer PRP for hair regrowth without quantitative evidence of clinical results. Objective Systematically review literature regarding PRP for alopecia. Evidence Review PRISMA guidelines were utilized to search the PubMed database in May 2019 with search terms “platelet rich plasma” and “hair”, “hair loss”, or “alopecia”. BGB16673 Manuscripts were included if they were written in English and described PRP treatment in human subjects with alopecia. Findings Sixty-one articles discussed the use of PRP as monotherapy, or in combination with other medical modalities, for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia (AGA), alopecia areata (AA), and cicatricial alopecia, ranging from level Ib to IV evidence. PRP results in significant increase in hair density and hair shaft width in AGA patients, with high rates of patient satisfaction and minimal adverse events. Data heterogeneity and limited number of well-designed, large-scale clinical trials were limitations of this review. Conclusions and Relevance Preliminary results regarding the use of PRP for AGA, AA, and cicatricial alopecias are promising. Physicians should be aware that current studies often report qualitative, rather than quantitative, clinical outcomes and should counsel patients regarding PRP treatment efficacy accordingly. J Drugs Dermatol. 2020;19(7) doi10.36849/JDD.2020.5192.Introduction Recent research on vitamin D has shown that the fat-soluble micronutrient has anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-proliferative effects in cells and tissues. During wound healing, abnormal scarring may occur and lead to reduced mobility, disfigurement, and psychosocial concerns. The role of vitamin D in the pathogenesis and treatment of scarring has not been reviewed previously. Methods A literature search was performed on PubMed to identify articles on vitamin D and keloid, hypertrophic, or burn scars. Results Molecular, epidemiological, and human clinical studies are discussed. Overall, the evidence suggests lower levels of vitamin D precursors, the active metabolite, and receptor, are associated with increased risk of scar development and increased severity. Conclusions Scars are challenging to treat, and patients are increasingly interested in non-invasive treatment options. Although few human clinical studies have been reported, vitamin D may be beneficial as an adjunct therapy to current treatment options. J Drugs Dermatol. 2020;19(7) doi10.36849/JDD.2020.4986.A 47-year-old women presented for Mohs Micrographic Surgery for a biopsy proven basal cell carcinoma involving the right nasal ala. The patient had a history of basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS) and previous history of multiple basal cell carcinomas.

Exploring spatial patterns in the context of cancer disease mapping (DM) is a decisive approach to bring evidence of geographical tendencies in assessing disease status and progression. However, this framework is not insulated from spatial confounding, a topic of significant interest in cancer epidemiology, where the latent correlation between the spatial random effects and fixed effects (such as covariates), often lead to misleading interpretation.

To introduce three popular approaches (RHZ, HH and SPOCK; details in paper) often employed to tackle spatial confounding, and illustrate their implementation in cancer research via the popular statistical software R.

As a solution to alleviate spatial confounding, restricted spatial regressions are constructed by either projecting the latent effect onto the orthogonal space of covariates, or by displacing the spatial locations. Popular parametric count data models, such as the Poisson, generalized Poisson and negative binomial, were considered for the areal ed versions.

Spatial confounding continues to remain a critical bottleneck in deriving precise inference from spatial DM models. Hence, its effects must be investigated, and mitigated. Several approaches are available in the literature, and they produce trustworthy results. The central contribution of this paper is providing the practitioners the R package RASCO, capable of fitting a large number of spatial models, as well as their restricted versions.

Patients with lung cancer (LC) report lower quality of life (QoL) and higher levels of psychological distress compared with other cancer populations. Lung cancer stigma (LCS) may in part explain these findings.

We investigated the prevalence of patient-perceived lung cancer stigma (LCS) and its relationships to symptom burden/severity, depression, and deficits in health-related quality of life (HR-QoL).

In this descriptive, observational, and cross-sectional study, 201 participants were sent questionnaires. These included the Cataldo Lung Cancer Stigma Scale (CLCSS), the Lung Cancer Symptom Scale, the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale, and the Quality of Life Inventory.

Participants were on average 69years old, 52% women, 95% ever smokers, and 18.5% current smokers. The mean total CLCSS score was 53.1 (SD=14.1; range=31-94). LCS was significantly correlated with younger age (P<.001), greater social deprivation (P<.05), being unemployed (P<.001), depression (P<.001), symptom burden (P<.001), and HR-QoL deficits (P<.001). Symptom burden explained 18% of variance in LCS (P<.001). LCS explained 8.5% and 14.3% of the variance in depression (P<.001) and HR-QoL (P<.001), respectively.

Patients with lung cancer are vulnerable to LCS. Symptom burden can directly contribute to greater perceived LCS. Greater perceived LCS can be directly related to greater levels of depression and lower HR-QoL. A tailored approach is required to screen for LCS and implement interventions to enhance the psychosocial well-being of patients with perceived LCS.

Patients with lung cancer are vulnerable to LCS. Symptom burden can directly contribute to greater perceived LCS. Greater perceived LCS can be directly related to greater levels of depression and lower HR-QoL. A tailored approach is required to screen for LCS and implement interventions to enhance the psychosocial well-being of patients with perceived LCS.