News

The Skin Cancer Foundation’s Road to Healthy Skin Tour hits the road again this month.

Vanishing Breed : Small practices feel squeeze; still, ‘niche’ opportunities remain Vitamin D Status : Study: Skin cancer patients show insufficiency, deficiency Special Report : Advances in cosmeceuticals

Stem cell products hold the promise of skin rejuvenation and skin repair, and the science that supports the claims of their benefits makes sense, but there are scant clinical studies in human subjects that demonstrate their efficacy and safety.

Dermatologist Carl R. Thornfeldt, M.D., has plenty of options. He could work in academia or make more money working for corporate America. Instead, he chooses to practice in Fruitland, Idaho, a town of about 3,000 located 57 miles west of Boise.

The approval of the prostaglandin analog Latisse (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution 0.03 percent) represents a major advance in offering a solution for cosmetic enhancement of eyelashes, according to a professor of dermatology, director of the cosmetic and laser division, Saint Louis University, St. Louis.

Businesses have found sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to be effective ways to keep their name in the public, and physicians continue to sign on as they explore ways to keep in touch with patients.

Cutting-edge experimental therapies are showing promise in clinical trials as nonsurgical alternatives for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and actinic keratosis (AK), says Ellen S. Marmur, M.D., who spoke at the 2010 joint annual meeting of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery and the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology & Aesthetic Surgery.

When it comes to skin-lightening, hydroquinone remains the gold standard, offering efficacy in reducing melanin hyperpigmentation. But various factors have given rise to interest in alternatives to hydroquinone. While none offers the efficacy of hydroquinone and few stand out as being significantly more effective than the others, there is no shortage of options.

Researchers studying the link between photoprotection adherence and vitamin D levels in skin cancer patients did not find an association between these two parameters, but did find that melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer patients seemed to have a tendency toward vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency.

Results from a multicenter phase 2 open-label study corroborate promising outcomes of a phase 1 trial showing the oncogene-targeted oral agent RG7204 as a promising treatment for metastatic melanoma (MM). Also known as PLX4032, RG7204 is being codeveloped by Genentech and Plexxikon. It acts to selectively inhibit oncogenic BRAF, a serine-threonine protein kinase that has been implicated in the pathogenesis of melanoma.

Radiofrequency has become the newest member of the aesthetic device market. Since its introduction in 2000, numerous devices have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for indications from wrinkles to fat removal. The data on radiofrequency (RF) and its physiologic actions on the cutaneous system are just now allowing us to better examine what we can clinically accomplish using these devices.

From IT costs to insurance contracts, economic pressures are pushing solo practitioners and small private practices to join larger groups, sources say. But despite many physicians' belief that small dermatology practices are a threatened species, some predict that viable niches for well-run small practices will persist into the foreseeable future. Still, the numbers show a downward trend.

Dermatologists need more research into contraindications and complications of Aesthetic procedures, particularly those used to treat medical conditions, according to an expert. However, she adds, such studies will be difficult to produce.

Dr. Surgery recently expanded his surgical horizons and began performing abdominoplasties. His third patient became septic, and she now has permanent lung and kidney damage secondary to the sepsis. The patient has sued Dr. Surgery, contending that he fraudulently misrepresented himself as a plastic surgeon. Does his patient have a claim based on fraud?

High-concentration glycerin is being added to many moisturizers to function as a humectant, aiding in attracting water to the xerotic skin surface. While glycerin is a highly effective moisturizing ingredient in low-humidity climates, it can leave skin with a sticky feel in humid environments. This is because glycerin can also attract water from the air.

With huge Medicare reimbursement cuts for physicians now off the table for this year, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has proposed a 1 percent increase for 2012 as a way of encouraging physicians to continue to treat Medicare patients. But, obsessed with slashing the federal deficit, the current Congress is looking for every conceivable way to cut spending - not increase it.

The movement toward quality EMRs for dermatologists is great. It will help providers have better notes and legible accounts of the patient-physician encounter, and it will also help with ICD-9 and CPT coding. In the end, however, providers still have to know what they did in the exam room, realize whether it is a chargeable event, and if it is, choose from an array of codes.

The anticipation is over: Registration for the government's incentive program for electronic health records (EHR) opened Jan. 3. Revealed in February 2009 as part of the then-new stimulus package, the legislation promoting EHRs was aptly named the HITECH Act - the acronym for Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health.

Research into cicatricial alopecia (CA) continues to elucidate the pivotal role of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) gamma, according to an expert.

I am mystified by the continuing debate surrounding the nebulous topic of healthcare reform and wish that the discussions were more understandable to me, so that I could make sense as to exactly what was being "reformed."

The federal government has not fully defined what the Medicare shared savings program mandated by healthcare reform legislation will look like, but sources say its advent likely will put dermatologists at a disadvantage.

Not all cosmeceuticals are created equal. Before making a recommendation to patients, peruse this list of products that dermatologists say deliver what they promise.

Although the science behind many cosmeceutical products is growing, dermatologists should use caution in recommending many of these products and ingredients, according to experts who spoke at Cosmetic Surgery Forum 2010 in Las Vegas in December.

Nanoparticles can enter and penetrate the skin theoretically and could represent a new delivery system for cosmeceuticals. The nanoparticle products are still in the developmental stage, however, due to unknown risks and other obstacles, according to Zoe Diana Draelos, M.D., consulting professor, department of dermatology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, N.C.

An analysis of multiple related studies suggests that warming local anesthetics to body temperature before injection can help ease the pain associated with infiltration of the drug, MedPage Today reports.

A recently published study suggests that mean serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, or 25(OH)D, are somewhat higher in older adults after a year of taking vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) compared with taking vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol), Reuters Health reports.

Miramar Labs has issued a statement saying it has received Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance for the miraDry System, a treatment for primary axillary hyperhidrosis.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved Epicyn HydroGel (Oculus Innovative Sciences) for treatment of various dermatoses and burns, MedPage Today reports.

Galderma, the L’Oréal/Nestlé joint venture based here, has received the necessary regulatory approvals in its bid for Swedish medical device firm Q-Med, the New York Times reports.

An unexpected immune protein exacerbates cancer due to sun exposure, and a drug designed to block the protein might halt tumor growth, a recently published study suggests.