Trendy Tattoos-Maybe a Serious Health Risk?

BACKGROUND: The literature reports many cases of cutaneous malignancy in the setting of skin tattoos. In this study, we review the reported incidence of and risk factors for tattoo-associated skin cancer. METHODS: A PubMed literature review was performed for all cases of tattoo-associated skin cancer, including squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, malignant melanoma, keratoacanthoma, and other rare skin malignancies (source: PubMed/until June 2017). RESULTS: The authors identified 51 publications and 63 total cases of tattoo-associated skin cancer. We also report on a single new case of tattoo-associated skin cancer observed at one of our co-authors' institutions. Among these 64 total cases, 58% were associated with black and blue inks and 34% were associated with red ink. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, while the strength of association remains unclear, the literature reports many cases of tattoo-associated skin cancer. Among these cases, black, blue, and red inks were particularly worrisome for their carcinogenic potential. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

A clinical evaluation of a transparent, absorbent, adhesive wound dressing.

The performance of a transparent absorbent adhesive wound dressing (TAAWD) was observed over 7 days in five plastic surgery clinics across Germany. The study included 47 diverse postoperative linear wounds and donor sites with dry or minimal exudate levels. Data on ease of application and removal, adhesive strength, skin compatibility, conformability to the body, visual wound inspection and parameters of wound assessment were collected and analysed. At the end of the observation period, 100% of wounds were recorded as healing with no reported complications. Clinicians considered that the new dressing had predominantly met clinical needs in 89% of cases. The dressing was shown to be skin friendly, easy to apply, adhere and conform to the skin while protecting the wound and allowing the patient to shower. Due to its transparency, the dressing enabled direct wound surveillance without potential disruption to the wound and healing process.

Human tumor-induced and naturally occurring Treg cells differentially affect NK cells activated by either IL-2 or target cells.

NK cells play a crucial role in the eradication of tumor cells. Naturally occurring (n) Treg cells and induced (i) Treg cells are two distinct Treg subsets. While the interaction of nTreg cells with NK cells has been investigated in the past, the role of tumor iTreg cells in the modulation of NK-cell function remains unclear. Tumor iTreg cells were generated from CD4(+) CD25(-) T cells in the presence of autologous immature DCs, head and neck cancer cells and IL-2, IL-10, and IL-15. The effect of iTreg cells and nTreg cells on the expression of NKG2D, NKp44, CD107a, and IFN-γ by NK cells, as well as NK tumor-cytolytic activity, were investigated. iTreg cells - similar to recombinant TGF-ß and nTreg cells - inhibited IL-2-induced activation of NK cells in the absence of target cell contact. Surprisingly, and in contrast to nTreg cells, iTreg cells enhanced NK-cell activity elicited by target cell contact. The cytolytic activity of NK cells activated by iTreg cells was mediated via perforin and FasL. We conclude that tumor iTreg cells inhibited IL-2-mediated NK-cell activity in the absence of target cells, whereas the tumoricidal activity of NK cells was enhanced by iTreg cells. Our data suggest a complex, previously not recognized, differential regulation of human NK activity by iTreg cells in the tumor microenvironment.