Understanding of cAMP signaling has greatly improved over the past decade. The advent of live cell imaging techniques and more specific pharmacologic modulators has led to an improved understanding of the intricacies by which cAMP is able to modulate such a wide variety of cellular pathways. It is now appreciated that cAMP is able to activate multiple effector proteins at distinct areas in the cell leading to the activation of very different downstream targets. The investigation of signaling proteins in cancer is a common route to the development of diagnostic tools, prognostic tools, and/or therapeutic targets, and in this review we highlight how investigation of cAMP signaling microdomains driven by the soluble adenylyl cyclase in different cancers has led to the development of a novel cancer biomarker. Antibodies directed against the soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC) are highly specific markers for melanoma especially for lentigo maligna melanoma and are being described as “second generation” cancer diagnostics, which are diagnostics that determine the ‘state’ of a cell and not just identify the cell type. Due to the wide presence of cAMP signaling pathways in cancer, we predict that further investigation of both sAC and other cAMP microdomains will lead to additional cancer biomarkers. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: The role of soluble adenylyl cyclase in health and disease.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an aerobic gram-negative bacillus that most commonly causes infection in immune-compromised hospitalized individuals, especially those with hematologic malignancy, neutropenia, and history of treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics. This infection has been known to affect multiple organ systems, but cutaneous involvement has been increasingly recognized over the years, albeit still relatively rare. Here we report a case of ulcerations on the palm and wrist, which were found to be positive for S. maltophilia. We also review the various skin and mucocutaneous findings that have been reported with this organism as well as treatment for this often multiple drug resistant organisms.

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