Longevity science

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the U.S. and most people will have had a skin cancer screening at the doctor at some point. But how many actually receive check-ups with the frequency necessary to catch harmful lesions forming on the skin before they become lethal?

Scientists at the University of Michigan have created an app called UMSkinCheck that directs users to take photos of themselves in order to perform self-checks for different forms of skin cancer.

Note that this is not fully successful yet, but an interesting prototype:

What if treating skin cancer was just a matter of wearing a patch for a few hours? At this year’s Society of Nuclear Medicine’s Annual Meeting one group of researchers presented such a patch.

The patch is infused with phosphorus-32, a radioactive isotope used to treat some types of cancer. In a study of 10 patients with basal cell carcinoma located on their faces, the patch was applied for three hours, then for another three hours four and seven days later. When biopsies were taken three months after treatment all ten patients, ranging from 32 to 74 years old, showed no traces of their tumors.

**When biopsies were performed again at six months, however, the basal cell carcinomas had returned in two of the patients.

This week's video news from Singularity Hub gives you the top blurbs on skin cancer, stem cell veins and more...