Snail extract for skin: A review of uses, projections, and limitations.

BACKGROUND: Snail mucin is becoming increasingly popular for its wide range of ingredients and potential benefits. Snail extract's widespread appearance in cosmetic formulations encourages an investigation into the medical and cosmetic benefits. AIMS: This study aims to explore current literature on the variety of snail mucin applications. Specifically, we present a review of the uses, global market estimates and projects, and limitations to snail mucin. METHODS: A literature search was conducted on PubMed reviewing snail mucin and their application in medical and dermatologic fields examining their uses. Economic reports were also investigated for Global Market estimates. RESULTS: The therapeutic use of snail mucin in medical fields has been studied as antimicrobial agents, drug delivery vehicles, antitumor agents, wound healing agents, and biomaterial coatings among others. Additionally, the use in cosmetic fields includes antiaging, hydrating, anti-acne, scarring, and hyperpigmentation treatments. It is important to highlight that most studies conducted were preclinical or small clinical studies, stressing the need for additional large-scale clinical trials to support these claims. Investigations into the global market found estimates ranging from $457 million to $1.2 billion with upward projections in the upcoming decade. Limitations include ethical habitats for collection, allergy investigation, and missing clinical studies. CONCLUSIONS: The findings presented here emphasize the expanding uses of snail mucin and its ingredients alongside a growing market cosmetic industry should consider. We also emphasize the need for appropriate clinical trials into the stated benefits of snail mucin to ensure consumer safety and ethical extraction of mucin.

Tumor Androgen Receptor Protein Level Is Positively Associated with a Better Overall Survival in Melanoma Patients.

Androgen receptor (AR) is expressed in numerous tissues and serves important biologic functions in skin, prostate, immune, cardiovascular, and neural systems, alongside sexual development. Several studies have associated AR expression and patient survival in various cancers, yet there are limited studies examining the relationship between AR expression and cutaneous melanoma. This study used genomics and proteomics data from The Cancer Proteome Atlas (TCPA) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), with 470 cutaneous melanoma patient data points. Cox regression analyses evaluated the association between AR protein level with overall survival and revealed that a higher level of AR protein was positively associated with a better overall survival (OS) (p = 0.003). When stratified by sex, the AR association with OS was only significant for both sexes. The multivariate Cox models with justifications of sex, age of diagnosis, stage of disease, and Breslow depth of the tumor confirmed the AR-OS association in all patients. However, the significance of AR was lost when ulceration was included in the model. When stratified by sex, the multivariate Cox models indicated significant role of AR in OS of female patients but not in males. AR-associated genes were identified and enrichment analysis revealed shared and distinct gene network in male and female patients. Furthermore, AR was found significantly associated with OS in RAS mutant subtypes of melanoma but not in BRAF, NF1, or triple-wild type subtypes of melanoma. Our study may provide insight into the well-known female survival advantage in melanoma patients.

Metastatic triple negative breast cancer with NTRK gene fusion on tissue but not on ctDNA molecular profile.

A woman presented to medical oncology with almost 4 years of untreated, slowly progressing, triple negative metastatic breast cancer to the lung. About 15 years prior, she was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma of the right breast with ipsilateral chest wall recurrence 6 years later. Comprehensive molecular profiling of a metastatic lesion detected a hotspot ETV6-NTRK3 fusion, which was not present on circulating tumour DNA or molecular profile performed 4 years prior. A second look pathological examination demonstrated tumour characteristics consistent with secretory breast carcinoma. Identification of ETV6--NKRT3 fusion allowed for treatment with larotrectinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor specifically indicated for secretory breast carcinoma. After 3 months, she experienced a partial response.

Early hematological parameters as predictors for outcomes in children with dengue in northern India: A retrospective analysis

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Dengue presents with a variable clinical course, ranging from mild illness to potentially fatal hemorrhage and shock. We aimed to evaluate the capabilities of various hematological parameters observed early in the course of illness for predicting the clinical outcomes of illness. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the records of children admitted in the pediatric inpatient services of the institute with dengue between 2017 and 2019. We determined the relationships between the hematological parameters observed during the first evaluation and the various clinical outcomes. RESULTS: We evaluated data from 613 patients (age range, 26 days to 17 years). Of these, 29.85% exhibited fever with warning signs, and 8.97% had severe dengue. Lower values of hemoglobin, platelet count, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and mean platelet volume, and higher values of total leukocyte count (TLC), hematocrit, and red cell distribution width variably correlated with numerous clinical outcomes-duration of hospital stay, development of complications, requirement of blood component transfusion, inotropic support, and mortality. Among the parameters, TLC ≥20,000/mL and initial platelet count ≤20,000/mL significantly associated with mortality, with odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of 11.81 (4.21-33.80) and 5.53 (1.90-16.09), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Hematological parameters observed early during dengue infection may predict its clinical outcomes in infected children. Initial high TLC and low platelet count are potential predictors of fatal outcomes in the course of disease.