A Deep Learning Approach for Basal Cell Carcinomas and Bowen’s Disease Recognition in Dermatopathology Image

Basal cell carcinomas and Bowen’s disease (squamous cell carcinoma in situ) are the most common cutaneous tumors. The early diagnoses of these diseases are very important due to their better prognosis. But it is a heavy workload for the pathologists to recognize a large number of pathological images and diagnose these diseases. So, there is an urgent need to develop an automatic method for detecting and classifying the skin cancers. This paper presents a recognition system of dermatopathology images based on the deep convolutional neural networks (CNN). The dermatopathology images are collected from the hospital. The deep learning model is trained using different image datasets. It can be found that the recognition accuracy of the system can be improved by using data augmentation even if the number of the clinical samples are not increased. But the recognition accuracy of the system is the highest when the number of the original histological image is increased. The experimental results that the system can correctly recognize 88.5% of patients with basal cell carcinoma and 86.5% of patients with Bowen’s disease.

Somatic Mutations in TP53 Gene in Colombian Patients With Non-melanoma Skin Cancer

Background/Aim: Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common cancer in the world. Somatic mutations in the TP53 gene are associated with the development of this cancer. To describe mutations in exons 5-8 of the TP53 gene in a sample of Colombian patients with non-melanoma skin cancer. Materials and Methods: One hundred and fifteen patients with non-melanoma skin cancer were included. Exons 5-8 were amplified and analyzed by PCR-High Resolution Melting and Sanger sequencing. Results: Fifty-seven patients with basal cell carcinomas and 58 with squamous cell carcinomas were studied. 16% of patients with basal cell carcinoma and 26% of patients with squamous cell carcinoma had mutations in the TP53 gene. The most frequent mutations were substitutions, while three patients had deletions. The most frequent mutation was p.R158G. Conclusion: The analysis showed that Colombian individuals with non-melanoma skin cancer have genetic TP53 variants different from those reported as recurrent for this disease.

Metastatic basal cell carcinoma: A report of two cases and a review of the literature

Basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) are among the most common non-melanoma skin cancers in the world. However, given their slowly progressive nature, metastatic BCCs are a relatively uncommon entity. Below, we discuss two separate cases of metastatic BCC that we encountered in our clinical practice. The first is the case of a 57-year-old male with a right cheek BCC and bilateral pulmonary metastases. The second is the case of a 71-year-old male who also presented with a right BCC and pulmonary metastases. We discuss their altered clinical courses. We also conducted a review of the literature focusing on the use of the relatively novel hedgehog inhibitors as a treatment option for individuals diagnosed with metastatic BCC.

Expression of Proton-Sensitive GPR31, GPR151, TASK1 and TASK3 in Common Skin Tumors

TWIK-related acid-sensitive potassium channels TASK1 and TASK3, as well as the G-protein-coupled receptors GPR31 and GPR151, are proton-sensitive membrane proteins. They can be activated or inhibited by low extracellular pH (pHe), which is a hallmark of the tumor microenvironment in solid tumors. However, the role of these channels in the development of skin tumors is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the expression profiles of TASK1, TASK3, GPR31 and GPR151 in squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), basal cell carcinomas (BCCs), nevus cell nevi (NCN), and malignant melanomas (MMs). We performed immunohistochemistry using paraffin-embedded tissue samples from patients and found that most skin tumors express TASK1/3 and GPR31/151. The results show that BCCs are often negative for GPR31/151 as well as for TASK1/3, while nearly all SCCs express these markers. MMs and NCN show similar expression patterns. However, some tumors show a decreasing TASK1/3 expression in deeper dermal tumor tissue, while GPCRs were expressed more evenly. The lower frequency of GPR31/151 and TSAK1/3 expression in BCCs when compared to SCCs is a novel histological feature distinguishing these two entities. Moreover, BCCs also show lower expression of GPR31/151 and TASK1/3 as compared to NCN and MMs.

Factors Associated with Skin Cancers in People with Albinism in Togo

Objective. The aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with skin cancers in people with albinism (PWA) in Togo. Method. This is a retrospective analytical study of the records of PWA examined during five dermatological consultation campaigns from 2019 to 2021. Results. During the study period, 517 PWA were seen. Sixty-four (12.3%) of these PWA had presented with 137 cases of skin cancer. The sex ratio (M/F) was 0.9. The average age of PWA with skin cancer was 39.69 ± 15.61 years and that of PWA without skin cancer was 19.17 ± 15.24 years ( p ≤ 0.001 ). The 137 cases of skin cancers were dominated by basal cell carcinomas (45.9%). These skin cancers were located preferentially in the cephalic region (77 cases; 56.2%), followed by the upper limbs (33 cases; 24.1%). In multivariate analysis, the risk factors for skin cancers in PWA were age over 39 years ( p ≤ 0.001 ) and the presence of actinic keratoses ( p ≤ 0.001 ). In contrast, the presence of ephelides ( p = 0.018 ) was a protective factor. Conclusion. This study confirms that advanced age and actinic keratoses are risk factors for skin cancer in PWA, in connection with the cumulative role of solar radiation. Its originality lies in the identification of ephelides as a protective factor. The knowledge and consideration of these risk factors will make it possible to optimise strategies for the prevention of skin cancers in PWA.

Giant Mushroom-like Neglected Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Shoulder with Spontaneous Bleeding: A Successful Surgical Approach

Introduction: Giant basal cell carcinomas (GBCCs) are extremely rare and typically more aggressive than their predecessor subtype. GBCCs with mushroom-like morphology have rarely been reported, with only one other case identified in the literature. Here we present a unique case of a neglected giant mushroom-like BCC that was treated successfully. Case description: An 81-year-old male patient presented with a large ulcerative mass on his back. He had a medical history of chronic heart failure and atrial fibrillation, which were controlled with heart medication. During a routine visit to change the dressing of the lesion, the central pedunculated stalk underwent spontaneous haemorrhaging which led to massive blood loss. The patient was treated for shock and the lesion was completely excised under emergency surgery. The tumour was sent for histopathological assessment after complete surgical removal. Recovery was successful with good postoperative results and no recurrence was reported in the 12 months following discharge. Discussion: The patient was under long-standing anticoagulant therapy that contributed to the untimely rupture of the pedunculated lesion and led to spontaneous heavy haemorrhaging. Treatment for such giant lesions can be complex, especially in patients with co-morbid conditions. Careful assessment and early treatment are paramount for successful results. Conclusion: Complete removal of such lesions is very successful for treating GBCCs.