Review of human hair optical properties in possible relation to melanoma development

Abstract

Abstract. Immigration and epidemiological studies provide evidence indicating the correlation of high ultraviolet exposure during childhood and increased risks of melanoma in later life. While the explanation of this phenomenon has not been found in the skin, a class of hair has been hypothesized to be involved in this process by transmitting sufficient ultraviolet rays along the hair shaft to possibly cause damage to the stem cells in the hair follicle, ultimately resulting in melanoma in later life. First, the anatomy of hair and its possible contribution to melanoma development, and the tissue optical properties are briefly introduced to provide the necessary background. This paper emphasizes on the review of the experimental studies of the optical properties of human hair, which include the sample preparation, measurement techniques, results, and statistical analysis. The Monte Carlo photon simulation of human hair is next outlined. Finally, current knowledge of the optical studies of hair is discussed in the light of their possible contribution to melanoma development; the necessary future work needed to support this hypothesis is suggested.

Medulla loss of scalp hair in breast cancer patients determined by near-infrared microscopy

“…400 nm, the total attenuation coefficient is dominated by the scattering coefficient. The total attenuation coefficient of a typical Asian black hair was close to 0.1 mm (similar scale of diameter of HS) around the NIR wavelength, 13,14 and bright-field imaging of a medulla-absent hair from a patient with cancer with forward incidence of light (0-deg AOI) showed complete attenuation in the transmission-type NIRM at a wavelength of 860 nm, as shown in Fig. 3.…”

Transepidermal UV radiation of scalp skin ex vivo induces hair follicle damage that is alleviated by the topical treatment with caffeine

“…20 mJ/cm 2 (low) and 50 mJ/cm 2 (high) UVB doses correspond, respectively, to 22–30 min and 56–73.5 min of sunlight in July in Germany. Considering that hair themselves absorb UV radiation , the impact of UVA and UVB on the scalp skin is usually reduced. However, this is not the case in patients suffering from skin barrier defects , lipid production deregulation , or alopecia, where the scalp skin surface is totally exposed to sunlight and to sunburn .…”

All-Optical Tunable Plasmonic Biosensor Made of Graphene and Metamaterial

“…To check the specificity of our biosensor, we employ normal healthy cells with RIs near to the cancer cells in Table 2 and with high growth rates such as intestinal epithelium cell, oral squamous cell, and hair follicle stem cells. The RI for the oral squamous cell is ≃1.4 [42], for intestinal epithelium cell is ≃1.035 [43] and for hair follicle stem cells is ≃1.37 [44]. Although cancer cells including the cells listed in the Table 2, have RIs near to the RIs of these high growth rates cells, our structure has the capability to distinguish between these two normal and cancer cells because of shift in the transmission spectra of the sensor.…”