Breakthrough Research and Treatment Advances
Among the most exciting advances in derma-
tology are new techniques in SKIN REPLACEMENTand
new laser technologies, which vastly extend treat-
ment options for a wide spectrum of health condi-
tions involving the skin. Skin replacement
techniques such as synthetic skin and tissue
expansion promise new hope for reconstruction
following severe BURNS, trauma, and CANCERsur-
gery. Refinements in laser technology allow der-
matologists and surgeons to finely pinpoint
potentially damaging or deadly cancer cells to
eradicate them without destroying adjacent tis-
sues. Lasers also offer potential relief from severe,
disfiguring dermatologic conditions such as PSORIA-
SISand ACNE. As well, knowledge emerging from
HUMAN GENOME mapping is helping researchers
identify the causes of persistent or debilitating
conditions such as vitiligo and PEMPHIGUS.
Among the greatest successes in modern medi-
cine is the virtual elimination of skin cancer as a
threat to life. Basal cell carcinoma and squamous
cell carcinoma, the most common skin cancers, are
nearly 100 percent curable with early detection and
treatment. Dermatologists diagnose these cancers
in 1 million Americans each year. Health experts
attribute the success in reducing serious conse-
quences and death from these cancers to nearly nil
to the combination of effective sunscreens to pre-
vent the sun damage that causes these skin cancers
and improved techniques for detecting and remov-
ing cancerous and precancerous lesions.
The rapid and continual regeneration of the
epidermis intrigues researchers, who continue to
explore the molecular foundations of this func-
tion. Some scientists believe that there are correla-
tions between KERATINOCYTEreplication and stem
cells that could hold important clues to under-
standing what determines how a cell becomes spe-
cialized for certain functions. Stem cells have the
unique ability to differentiate, or become various
kinds of particular cells, depending on the stimu-
lation they receive. Researchers involved in this
line of investigation are hoping to find ways to
redirect keratinocytes to form other kinds of cells,
which has exciting implications for guiding the
body to heal itself by growing healthy tissues to
repair or replace diseased organs and structures.130 The Integumentary System
CONDITIONS THAT CAN AFFECT THE INTEGUMENTARY SYSTEMACNE ACROCHORDON ACTINIC KERATOSIS
ALBINISM ALOPECIA ANGIOMA
BURNS CANDIDIASIS CARBUNCLE
CELLULITIS CHLOASMA DISCOID LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS
CORNS CRADLE CAP DANDRUFF
DECUBITUS ULCER DERMATITIS DERMATOFIBROMA
DIAPER RASH ECCHYMOSIS ERYSIPELAS
erythema ERYTHRASMA FOLLICULITIS
FROSTBITE FURUNCLE HYPERHIDROSIS
IMPETIGO KAPOSI’S SARCOMA KERATOACANTHOMA
KERATOSIS PILARIS LENTIGINES LICHEN PLANUS
LICHEN SIMPLEX CHRONICUS LIPOMA malignant melanoma
MILIARIA ONYCHOMYCOSIS PEDICULOSIS
PEMPHIGUS PRURIGO PRURITIS
PSORIASIS PSUEDOFOLLICULITIS BARBAE PURPURA
RASH ringworm ROSACEA
scleroderma SKIN CANCER SUNBURN
TELANGIECTASIS TINEA TOXIC EPIDERMAL NECROLYSIS
VITILIGO warts XANTHOMA