A Case of Giant Basal Cell Carcinoma of the Ear Complicated by Primary Cutaneous Aspergillosis.

A 78-year-old female patient with right ear agenesis presented with a skin manifestation of approximately 7 cm × 8 cm deep-invasive ulcer with well-defined borders and a small amount of yellow purulent discharge visible at the base, surrounded by pearl-like margins in a dyke-like elevation, covered with a small amount of necrotic tissue and black crust. The disease lasted for more than 20 years and was diagnosed as giant basal cell carcinoma complicated by primary cutaneous aspergillosis after two histopathological examinations of the skin lesions. There are similarities in the clinical manifestations of these two diseases, which need to be differentiated, and the simultaneous complications are infrequent. It has not been reported.

[Progress in nanobody and its application in diagnosis].

Nanobodies are derived from the variable domain of the heavy-chain antibodies (HCAbs) that occur naturally in the serum of Camelidae. They are the smallest antibody fragments capable to bind antigens. With the characteristics of their increased solubility, increased domain stabilities, nanomolar affinities, easy crossing the blood-brain barrier, easy generation, engineering, optimization and tailoring, easy humanization, nanobodies have extensive application prospects in diagnosis and detection. Although nanobody has demonstrated tremendous success, a number of practical challenges limit its broader applications in disease diagnosis and detection, including construction of a phage library and selection of nanobody fragments with high affinity and immunogold labeling technique. Here, we review several recent findings on the use of nanobodies in molecular diagnostics and suggest some practical strategies in resolving the current challenges in this attractive research area, particularly to optimize the affinity, solubility, humanization of nanobodies.