Seminars in cutaneous medicine and surgery
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Semin Cutan Med Surg · Jun 2014
ReviewPrecision medicine and precision therapeutics: hedgehog signaling pathway, basal cell carcinoma and beyond.
Precision medicine and precision therapeutics is currently in its infancy with tremendous potential to improve patient care by better identifying individuals at risk for skin cancer and predict tumor responses to treatment. This review focuses on the Hedgehog signaling pathway, its critical role in the pathogenesis of basal cell carcinoma, and the emergence of targeted treatments for advanced basal cell carcinoma. Opportunities to utilize precision medicine are outlined, such as molecular profiling to predict basal cell carcinoma response to targeted therapy and to inform therapeutic decisions.
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Semin Cutan Med Surg · Jun 2014
Current and emerging nonsurgical treatment options for hidradenitis suppurativa.
Several nonsurgical strategies for managing hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) are used that are successful in many patients. The overall goals of pharmacologic therapy are to clear or reduce the number and extent of current lesions and to prevent new lesions from forming. ⋯ Among the agents most commonly used are topical and systemic antibiotics and intralesional and systemic corticosteroids. Within the past decade, clinical experience with biologic agents-principally, tumor necrosis factor inhibitors-has been described, and the results of clinical trials with these agents in patients with HS have been promising.
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Semin Cutan Med Surg · Jun 2014
ReviewCurrent status and future directions of molecularly targeted therapies and immunotherapies for melanoma.
Key molecular and immunological insights over the past decade have radically changed the face of therapy in melanoma. Whereas 5 years ago, treatment for advanced melanoma was restricted to the alkylating agent dacarbazine and the immunostimulants interleukin-2 and interferon-α-2b, today the therapeutic menu includes precise therapies that target key determinants in oncogenic pathways and immune checkpoints. In this chapter, we will review the current status and future directions of targeted therapies for melanoma directed at mitogen-activated pathways and immune checkpoints.