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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]

HD-OCT (high definition optical coherence tomography) is a promising non-invasive imaging tool with demonstrated utility in the in vivo accurate diagnosis of skin cancers but with slightly reduced applicability in other skin pathology, such as inflammatory or chronic connective tissue diseases. This technique can deliver high-resolution images of the skin layers similar with the histological aspect. The present study sought to detect and describe typical features regarding the pathological micro architectural pattern of localized scleroderma using HD- OCT and to see the utility in monitoring non-invasively the effects of first line treatments over relatively short period of time in this specific disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Basal cell carcinoma is a slow growing non-melanoma skin cancer appearing as a non-healing, painless, and sometimes pruriginous sore, usually on sun-exposed areas. Although it rarely metastasizes, BCC diagnosis and treatment should not be delayed due to its local invasive potential. Currently, dermatoscopy is a well propagated and commonly employed tool in clinical practice, providing a fast and handy approach to clinical diagnosis, without the significant financial costs associated with other more sophisticated diagnostic means. Since the very first dermatoscopic descriptions of basal cell carcinoma, the list of dermatoscopic diagnostic criteria has been updated and renewed numerous times. Dermatoscopy significantly augments basal cell carcinoma detection by its capability of discriminating it from other skin lesions and inflammatory skin conditions. Moreover, current evidence suggests that this noninvasive, real-time imaging technique is also valuable in tumor management, seeing that it provides additional information related to histopathological subtype, presence or lack of pigmentation, lateral tumor extension, and tumor response to non-surgical treatments. In this paper, we aim to summarize time-honored as well as current knowledge on the value of dermatoscopy in the diagnosis, classification, and treatment of basal cell carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an emergent imaging technique, based on the interference of infrared radiation and living tissues, that allows the in vivo visualization of the skin structures, at high resolution and up to 1.6 mm depth. As such, there is mounting evidence that OCT may be an interesting technique for the diagnosis of skin diseases, including the noninvasive early detection of cutaneous tumors. Objective: We aimed to investigate the utility of OCT for the diagnosis of non-melanocytic, non-pigmented cutaneous tumors. Methods: Preliminary results are presented from an initiated study. Fifteen consecutive patients with clinical suspicion of epithelial cancers and precancers registered over one week in a university dermatologic department were included. As control were selected 7 patients with inflammatory skin diseases (psoriasis, lichen planus, cutaneous lupus erythematosus). In all study and control patients, the lesions and samples of normal, perilesional skin were documented by clinical digital photography, contact dermoscopy with digital image capture and OCT with central wavelength of 930 nm. Final diagnosis was certified by histopathological analysis. Results: We could identify morphological features in OCT examination that distinguished between normal and lesional skin, and between neoplastic vs. inflammatory lesions. In the same time, combining OCT and dermatoscopical evaluation of a lesion improved the performance of diagnosis when compared to clinical diagnosis alone and with either OCT or dermoscopy imaging used alone. Conclusions: OCT appears as a promising method of in vivo diagnosis of early neoplastic cutaneous lesions with equivocal clinical and/or dermoscopic aspect. Continuation of our study as well as other larger investigation will be able to contribute with new insights in the role of OCT in the non-invasive diagnosis of skin disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]