Michael Kunz

BACKGROUND: Patients with severe oral lichen planus refractory to standard topical treatment currently have limited options of therapy suitable for long-term use. Oral alitretinoin (9-cis retinoic acid) was never systematically investigated in clinical trials, although case reports suggest its possible efficacy.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy and safety of oral alitretinoin taken at 30 mg once daily for up to 24 weeks in the treatment of severe oral lichen planus refractory to ...

BACKGROUND: There is a medical need for new drugs in patients with BRAF wild-type metastatic melanoma. Pazopanib is a multitarget tyrosine kinase inhibitor with antitumour and antiangiogenic activity.

OBJECTIVES: The primary aim was to investigate the metabolic response to pazopanib monotherapy and pazopanib plus paclitaxel in patients with BRAF wild-type melanoma. Secondary end points were the early cytokine and chemokine profiles and histological findings.

METHODS: Pazopanib (400 mg ...

Acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) is a unique histopathological subtype of melanoma with a poorer prognosis than other cutaneous melanomas. This study aims to evaluate the clinicopathological characteristics, metastatic pattern, prognostic factors, response to systemic therapy, and overall survival (OS) of ALM in a White population. This is a retrospective study of patients who were diagnosed and/or treated for ALM at the Department of Dermatology of the University Hospital Zurich, ...

A 47-year-old female patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with methotrexate, was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. After surgical removal of the tumor, the patient started treatment with ipilimumab while methotrexate was stopped. One week after initiation of ipilimumab, the patient developed typical symptoms of RA. Analgetic therapy was started. After 4 cycles of ipilimumab, melanoma progression was radiologically evident. The treatment plan was changed to pembrolizumab ...

Pruritus is associated with various skin diseases, dry skin, and with it an impaired skin barrier function. The study objective was to investigate short-term and long-term effects of two emollients on symptoms and skin barrier functions in xerotic eczema. Randomized, double-blind, study enrolling females/males, with bilateral itching. Two emollients, containing lactic acid and refined almond oil with/without polidocanol were administered on left versus right body sides. Itching severity, ...