Regenerative Wound Dressings for Skin Cancer

SIMPLE SUMMARY: As the currently and commonly applied treatment strategies for skin cancer are highly invasive and possibly disfiguring, new approaches should focus on developing wound dressings that could promote both tumor eradication and skin regeneration. In this context, we aim to provide a complete overview on the limitations of currently available topical field treatments and to emphasize on the potential of natural biocompounds with anti-cancer and anti-microbial effects that could be introduced into wound dressings consisting of biopolymers with regenerative capacities. This paper could represent the first step towards the scientific advancement of regenerative wound dressings for skin cancer therapy. ABSTRACT: Skin cancer is considered the most prevalent cancer type globally, with a continuously increasing prevalence and mortality growth rate. Additionally, the high risk of recurrence makes skin cancer treatment among the most expensive of all cancers, with average costs estimated to double within 5 years. Although tumor excision is the most effective approach among the available strategies, surgical interventions could be disfiguring, requiring additional skin grafts for covering the defects. In this context, post-surgery management should involve the application of wound dressings for promoting skin regeneration and preventing tumor recurrence and microbial infections, which still represents a considerable clinical challenge. Therefore, this paper aims to provide an up-to-date overview regarding the current status of regenerative wound dressings for skin cancer therapy. Specifically, the recent discoveries in natural biocompounds as anti-cancer agents for skin cancer treatment and the most intensively studied biomaterials for bioactive wound dressing development will be described.