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People who ink may be in for more than just body art.. “I got tattooed during a time in my life when I wasn’t fully informed about what was going into my body or what I was allowing onto my skin. Back then, it was about art, self-expression, and creative identity.” “Today, I see it differently. Tattoos are not harmless,” Ellie Grey a book author, .. Like Grey, many people choose to get tattoos as self-expression, acts of remembrance, or transformation. But even when the meaning runs deep, tattoos can have consequences—some only now coming to light. The Link Between...

Study concludes that the larger the tattoo, the greater the odds of developing cancer In a nutshell * Danish twin study found people with large tattoos (bigger than palm-sized) had 2.73 times higher rate of developing lymphoma and 2.37 times higher rate of skin cancer * Tattoo ink particles migrate through the body to lymph nodes and other organs, potentially causing chronic inflammation that may increase cancer risk * Time between getting a tattoo and cancer diagnosis averaged 8 years for lymphoma and 14 years for skin cancer, suggesting a substantial latency period ================================================================= ODENSE, Denmark — Tattoos have become...

A new study has discovered that tattoo inks could be linked to cancer or organ failure. An analysis of 54 inks commonly used in tattoo parlors across America has uncovered that a staggering 45 of them contained unlisted additives, including chemicals known to pose alarming health risks. Multiple inks contained 2-phenoxyethanol, which can cause toxic effects in high doses. Researchers involved in the study found the most common additive to be polyethylene glycol, which is a compound that can cause acute renal failure. The study was led by Jonn Swierk from the Department of Chemistry at Binghamton University, and was...

A common pinworm medication may stop and reverse cancer growth in Merkel cell carcinoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, according to research. Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare but fast-growing neuroendocrine cancer that is three to five times more likely than melanoma to be deadly. Response rates to current therapies are limited, resulting in a need for effective and broadly applicable therapeutics. Pyrvinium pamoate, a medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1955 to treat pinworms, has been shown to have antitumor potential in several different cancers, including breast, colorectal, pancreatic and bladder cancers. This is the...

Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark, analyzing data from Danish twin pairs, have found evidence suggesting that tattoo ink may elevate the risk of skin and lymphoma cancers. This potential risk is linked to the accumulation of tattoo ink in the lymph nodes. These findings highlight concerns about the long-term health effects of tattooing.

A research team is testing a new combination drug therapy that could both treat and prevent melanoma metastasis to the brain. Holmen first examined what causes melanoma cells to spread to the brain and identified focal adhesion kinase (FAK) as a potential target for new therapies. FAK is an enzyme that regulates cell growth, and, they found, is a major contributor to melanoma metastasis. "The window of time to treat a patient with brain metastasis is shortened because the average survival from time of diagnosis of brain metastasis is only about a year—even while using these other therapies." Holmen and...

Aserendipitous discovery may lead to a new way of fighting cancer – even tumors that are resistant to immunotherapy – by suppressing a mechanism that cancer cells use to evade the body’s immune system. “It all happened by coincidence,” explained study lead Professor Carmit Levy of Tel Aviv University, in a statement. “My lab studies both cancer and the effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun on our skin and body – both of which are known to suppress the immune system. Cancer suppresses approaching immune cells and solar radiation suppresses the skin's immune system.” “While in most cases,...

A clinical trial has shown that a new drug combination utilized before surgery completely eliminated or shrunk melanoma tumors in 70% of trial participants. The phase II clinical trial, NeoACTIVATE, enrolled patients with stage 3 melanoma. "We saw that about two-thirds of the patients in one arm of the trial had no remaining tumor at all at the time of their surgery," said Matthew S. Block, M.D., Ph.D. This was the first clinical trial to explore using the combination of targeted therapy and immunotherapy before surgery in patients with and without the type of melanoma that has a mutation in...

Swedish researchers at the Umeå University argue that there´s not enough evidence proving benefits of sunscreens. One of the most increasing forms of cancer in Sweden, skin cancer is linked to sun exposure and many believe in the use of sunscreens for guaranteed protection. According to the Radiation Safety Authority, applying sunscreen provides protection from the sun, yet researchers at the Umeå University are doubting the results. “The scientific support that sunscreen protects against skin cancer is weak. Therefore, one should be careful in recommending it as a protection,” said Bengt Järvholm, a senior physician and professor at Umeå. He...

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (Gray News) – A 14-year-old from Virginia was crowned America’s Top Young Scientist for inventing a soap that treats skin cancer. According to a news release, Heman Bekele, a ninth grader at W.T. Woodson High School in Annandale, won the 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge last week. Heman developed Melanoma Treating Soap, a compound-based bar of soap designed to treat skin cancer. Over the next five years, he hopes to refine his innovation and create a nonprofit organization that will distribute this low-cost solution to communities in need. The final product came out to a shockingly cheap...

Treatment for locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell cancers (laCSCC) remains poorly defined. Most laCSCC tumors express high levels of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR). Cetuximab has activity in other EGFR expressing cancers and enhances the effectiveness of radiotherapy. In this new study, researchers conducted a retrospective review of institutional data and identified 18 patients with laCSCC treated with cetuximab induction and concurrent radiotherapy. "We performed a retrospectively review of treatment outcome and toxicity in our patients who received concurrent cetuximab and radiotherapy to show an additional potentially effective treatment option for patients with laCSCC," say the researchers. The loading dose...

New research indicates that simple laser treatments to the skin may help to prevent the development of basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, which are collectively known as keratinocyte carcinoma and are the most common types of cancer diagnosed in the United States. The work reveals an easy-to-implement strategy to protect individuals' skin health. Nonablative fractional lasers (NAFL) deliver heat in a fractional manner that leaves it fully intact after treatment (unlike ablative fractional lasers that remove the top layer of skin), and they're currently used to treat scars, sun-damaged skin, age spots, and more; however, their effectiveness for...

Fewer cases of melanoma were observed among regular users of vitamin D supplements than among non-users, a new study finds. People taking vitamin D supplements regularly also had a considerably lower risk of skin cancer, according to dermatologists. Vitamin D plays a key role in the normal function of the human body, and it may also play a role in many diseases. The link between vitamin D and skin cancers has been studied abundantly in the past, but these studies have mainly focused on serum levels of calcidiol. Findings from these studies have been inconclusive and even contradictory at times,...

More than half of all patients who receive solid organ transplants will have an incidence of skin cancer at some point—most often a nonmelanoma cancer, such as basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma. This increased risk can be several hundred times higher than in the general population. The increased risk is related to long-term immunosuppressive therapy required for transplanted organ survival, which affects the immune system's ability to monitor cells for abnormalities, according to Leila Tolaymat, M.D. "While dermatologists are involved in treating carcinomas and other neoplasms in high-risk patients, an understanding of skin cancer risk, is important across...

In an international, multicenter Phase II clinical trial led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 63.3% of patients with stage II–IV cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) saw their tumors nearly or completely disappear when treated with immunotherapy before surgery. The anti-PD1 therapy cemiplimab was well-tolerated, and the study met its primary endpoint with a pathologic complete response (pCR) rate of 50.6%, meaning no tumor cells were found at surgery. Another 12.7% of patients had a major pathological response (MPR), with less than 10% viable tumor found at surgery. The responses were confirmed by independent central pathologic review....

Researchers have discovered that treating patients who have late-stage treatment resistant melanoma with a combination of two existing drugs significantly increases their survival times. The drug repurposing trial focused on patients with end stage melanoma whose cancers had become resistant to frontline immunotherapy treatment, a class of drugs known as Immune Checkpoint Inhibiters (ICB). ICBs interfere with a cancer cells' ability to "hide" from the body's immune system allowing a patient's own body to fight cancer. The team found that by treating patients with a combination of two already approved chemotherapy drugs, Azacitidine and Carboplatin, they were able to re-sensitize...

Picture it: A car-free trip to Santa Cruz, for an attractive fare, on a train that took you to the beach in the morning, back home that night, and showed you some great scenery along the way. That describes the Sun Tan Special, operated by the Southern Pacific railroad between San Francisco, San Jose and Santa Cruz on summer weekends and holidays for most of the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s. It was more than just a conveyance. “[It’s] a happy train, filled with people in a vacation mood,” says a 1940s Southern Pacific flyer. “It gives you six hours on...

A Colorado mom hospitalized for 21 days died Tuesday without seeing her husband or two children, despite the family’s repeated requests for an exception to a policy barring visitors during the coronavirus crisis ... Elizabeth, who had autoimmune issues and heart problems for years, was at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital in Aurora for three weeks with severe infections in her lungs and blood. Her family was not allowed to see her because the hospital, like many during the coronavirus pandemic, has enacted a strict no-visitor policy ... No matter how many times Reiter asked to visit Elizabeth, even when...

Sexual orientation has a correlation with skin cancer prevalence, new research finds. Gay and bisexual men have higher rates of skin cancer over the course of their lifetimes compared to heterosexual men, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Dermatology. Bisexual women — but not lesbian women — were found to have lower odds of contracting skin cancer compared to heterosexual women.

A woman from Northumberland, England, says she's thankful to be cancer-free after her face was "forever changed" by a chickenpox scar. Louise Thorell, now 32, said she came down with the chickenpox at age 5, but it wasn’t until decades later, in 2018, that a facial scar left behind from the illness took on a “waxier,” tougher texture, Media Drum World reported. Thorell, who has a family history of skin cancer, was referred to a specialist who diagnosed her with basal cell carcinoma, the most common form of skin cancer, typically caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun...