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Chronic wounds encompass a myriad of lesions, including venous and arterial leg ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs), pressure ulcers, non-healing surgical wounds and others. Despite the etiological differences, chronic wounds share several features at a molecular level. The wound bed is a convenient environment for microbial adherence, colonization and infection, with the initiation of a complex host–microbiome interplay. Chronic wound infections with mono- or poly-microbial biofilms are frequent and their management is challenging due to tolerance and resistance to antimicrobial therapy (systemic antibiotic or antifungal therapy or antiseptic topicals) and to the host's immune defense mechanisms. The ideal dressing should maintain moisture, allow water and gas permeability, absorb wound exudates, protect against bacteria and other infectious agents, be biocompatible, be non-allergenic, be non-toxic and biodegradable, be easy to use and remove and, last but not least, it should be cost-efficient. Although many wound dressings possess intrinsic antimicrobial properties acting as a barrier to pathogen invasion, adding anti-infectious targeted agents to the wound dressing may increase their efficiency. Antimicrobial biomaterials may represent a potential substitute for systemic treatment of chronic wound infections. In this review, we aim to describe the available types of antimicrobial biomaterials for chronic wound care and discuss the host response and the spectrum of pathophysiologic changes resulting from the contact between biomaterials and host tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive forms of skin cancer, with limited therapeutic options. Since its incidence has been rapidly rising in recent years, the study of new targeted therapeutic strategies has increased. The implication of nanoscience in the development of alternative targeted therapies for melanoma has multiple benefits and could significantly improve the outcome of melanoma patients. In this paper, we review the most recent progress in the field of targeted therapies, emphasizing the impact of nanoscale materials on the targeting and controlled release of anti-tumor drugs. The applications of nanomedicine in the management of melanoma are extensive and refer to sentinel lymph node mapping, chemotherapy, and RNA interference; each of these applications harboring the potential to develop efficient and personalized diagnostic techniques and therapies. Further research, especially in clinical trials, is needed to establish whether fighting melanoma on the nanoscale level represents the key to reaching a critical inflection point in mankind's battle with metastatic melanoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current national and European guidelines recommend distinct management approaches for basal cell carcinoma (BCC) based on tumor location, size, and histopathological subtype. In vivo reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) is a non-invasive skin imaging technique which may change the diagnostic pathway for BCC patients. This study aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of RCM for BCC diagnosis, assess the predictive values of several confocal criteria in correctly classifying BCC subtypes, and evaluate the intraobserver reliability of RCM diagnosis for BCC. We conducted a retrospective study in two tertiary care centers in Bucharest, Romania. We included adults with clinically and dermoscopic suspect BCCs who underwent RCM and histopathological examination of excision specimens. For RCM examinations, we used the VivaScope 1500 and histopathology of the surgical excision specimen was the reference standard. Of the 123 cases included in the analysis, BCC was confirmed in 104 and excluded in 19 cases. RCM showed both high sensitivity (97.1%, 95% CI (91.80, 99.40)) and specificity (78.95%, 95% CI (54.43, 93.95)) for detecting BCC. Several RCM criteria were highly predictive for BCC subtypes: cords connected to the epidermis for superficial BCC, big tumor islands, peritumoral collagen bundles and increased vascularization for nodular BCC, and hyporefractile silhouettes for aggressive BCC. Excellent intraobserver agreement (κ = 0.909, p < 0.001) was observed. This data suggests that RCM could be used for preoperative diagnosis and BCC subtype classification in patients with suspected BCCs seen in tertiary care centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]