Rural Health Disparities in Skin Cancer Amplified Among Skin of Color.

Limited studies explore the role social determinants of health have on urban-rural health disparities, particularly for Skin of Color. To further evaluate this relationship, a cross-sectional study was conducted on data from five states using the 2018 to 2021 Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, a national state-run health survey. Prevalence of skin cancer history and urban/rural status were evaluated across these social determinants of health: sex, age, race, insurance status, number of personal healthcare providers, and household income. Overall, rural counterparts were significantly more likely to have a positive skin cancer history across most social determinants of health. Rural populations had a higher prevalence of skin cancer history across all races (P<.001). Rural non-Hispanic Whites had greater odds than their urban counterparts (OR=1.40; 95% CI 1.34 - 1.46). The odds were approximately twice as high for rural Black (OR=1.74; 95% CI 1.14 - 2.65), Hispanic (OR=2.31; 95% CI 1.56 - 3.41), and Other Race, non-Hispanic (OR=1.99; 95% CI 1.51 - 2.61), and twenty times higher for Asians (OR=20.46; 95% CI 8.63 - 48.54), although no significant difference was seen for American Indian/Alaskan Native (OR=1.5; 95% CI 0.99 - 2.28). However, when household income exceeded $100,000 no significant difference in prevalence or odds was seen between urban and rural settings. Despite increasing awareness of metropolitan-based health inequity, urban-rural disparities in skin cancer prevalence continue to persist and may be magnified by social determinants such as income and race. J Drugs Dermatol. 2024;23(6):480-484.    doi:10.36849/JDD.8094.

Clinical and Economic Benefits of Autologous Epidermal Grafting.

Chronic wounds are an increasingly prevalent disease with a significant healthcare burden. These wounds often do not respond to standard of care therapy alone, requiring the use of adjuvant therapies. Epidermal grafting, previously utilized primarily for correction of leukoderma, is increasingly being recognized as a beneficial therapy for wounds, both acute and chronic. Epidermal grafting has been shown to be effective in the management of chronic wounds, with successful healing in refractory patients. It has not only been shown to be effective, but it is also associated with lower cost and morbidity than traditional skin grafting techniques as well as improved donor site healing. Through the use of a novel epidermal harvesting system, the CelluTome™ Epidermal Harvesting System (KCI, an Acelity company, San Antonio, TX), this treatment modality has become more standardized, reproducible, and easy to use as well as less time consuming, making its use in the clinical setting more convenient and beneficial. Epidermal grafting, therefore, represents a promising, efficacious, and cost-effective option for treatment of refractory non-healing wounds.

Quality assessment of tissue specimens for studies of diabetic foot ulcers.

Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) represent an important clinical problem resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Ongoing translational research studies strive to better understand molecular/cellular basis of DFU pathology that may lead to identification of novel treatment protocols. Tissue at the non-healing wound edge has been identified as one of major contributors to the DFU pathophysiology that provides important tool for translational and clinical investigations. To evaluate quality of tissue specimens and their potential use, we obtained 81 DFU specimens from 25 patients and performed histological analyses, immunohistochemistry and RNA quality assessments. We found that depth of the collected specimen is important determinant of research utility, and only specimens containing a full-thickness epidermis could be utilized for immunohistochemistry and RNA isolation. We showed that only two-thirds of collected specimens could be utilized in translational studies. This attrition rate is important for designs of future studies involving tissue specimen collection from DFU.