The significance of allergen-specific IgE as marker for severity of atopic dermatitis is controversial. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of IgE-mediated sensitisation to food and environmental allergens in 132 children and 67 adults with atopic dermatitis, and its correlation to severity of atopic dermatitis (SCORAD). Total IgE was elevated (> 100 kU/l) in 79.7% of adults and 46.8% of children. Sensitisation frequencies to allergens, particularly microbial allergens, were up to 10-fold higher in adults compared to children. Severity of atopic dermatitis correlated with elevated total IgE in adults (r = 0.549, p < 0.001) and children (r = 0.344, p = 0.005) and with Malassezia spp.-specific IgE in adults (r = 0.429, p = 0.007). Total IgE is a marker for severe atopic dermatitis in both age groups. Malassezia spp.-specific IgE is an important allergen-specific marker for severity of atopic dermatitis in adults.

Mutations of the BRAF gene are correlated with younger age, a higher number of melanocytic naevi and a tumour location in intermittently UV-exposed skin. Signs of chronic photodamage are not indicative of mutational status. Patients with metastatic melanoma with BRAF mutations showed a nonsignificant tendency to progress later to stage IV disease, but once metastases were present the prognosis was identical to that with BRAF wild-type tumours.

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Medikamentöse Therapie nichtmelanozytärer epithelialer Tumore Leitthema Unter allen Krebserkrankungen stellen die nichtmelanozytären Tumore der Haut die häufigsten Krebsarten dar. Zwischen 2000 und 2008 erkrankten im Regierungsbezirk Müns-ter in Nordrhein-Westfalen mindestens 30.000 Patienten an Basalzellkarzinomen oder Plattenepithelkarzinomen der Haut. Genaue Zahlen zur Erkrankungshäufigkeit gibt es allerdings derzeit nicht, da nichtmelanozytäre Tumore von den meisten Krebsdatenbanken noch nicht vollständig erfasst werden [1, 2]. Im Krebsregister Schleswig-Holstein von 2004 stellten nichtmelanozytä-re Hauttumore bei Männern die häu-figste, bei Frauen die zweithäufigste Krebsart dar.