A Non-Interventional Pilot Study to Explore the Skin Microbes in Skin Cancer

Overview

This study seeks to correlate microbial sequencing data from a punch biopsy in patients with skin cancer both melanoma and non-melanoma.

The human Skin microbiome is a complex, interconnected web of microbes, living in a symbiotic relationship with their host. There are greater than ten times more bacteria on our bodies than there are human cells, all in a delicate and ever-changing balance to maintain a healthy skin microbiome. When this balance is disrupted, a condition known as dysbiosis, disease can occur. There is still a debate over whether dysbiosis is a cause of disease or a symptom of it. Naturally, since the microbiome has such a profound impact on human health, we want to study and learn as much about the microbiome as possible. By correlating this data with medical records for the patient's skin cancer, connections may begin to be drawn between organisms present in the microbiome of the skin microbiome, and skin cancer. Much like fingerprints, no microbiome is identical therefore the only chance we have at understanding disease is by looking at the skin microbiome and comparing the microorganisms on a patient with skin cancer biopsy and non-skin cancer biopsy.

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