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Tumid lupus erythematosus (TLE) is a rare form of chronic cutaneous lupus that has triggered much debate regarding its clinical and histopathological features. It has been classically defined as annular erythematous, succulent, plaques involving the face and trunk that typically are devoid of any papulosquamous features such as scale and follicular plugging. These lesions are a clinical mimicker of other urticarial lesions such as urticarial vasculitis and lymphocytic infiltrate of Jessner. We report a case of TLE presenting in a 49-year-old Caucasian female whose initial clinical presentation was concerning for urticarial vasculitis due to presence of urticarial-like lesions present for approximately three months. Laboratory studies and histopathological correlations confirmed the diagnosis of TLE and the patient was successfully treated with topical corticosteroids.

Immune checkpoints have been the subject of a wave of new studies. Among these checkpoints are tytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen 4, checkpoints programmed death-1 and programmed death-ligand 1; their blockades have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for therapy of melanoma and other types of cancers. Immunogenomics, which combines the latest nucleic acid sequencing strategy with immunotherapy, provides precise information about genomic alterations (e.g. mutations) and enables a paradigm shift of immune checkpoint therapy from tumor types to molecular signatures. Studying these critical checkpoints in relation to genomic mutations and neoantigens has produced groundbreaking results. This article examines these studies and delves into the relationships between immune checkpoint blockade and tumors harboring certain genomic mutations. Moreover, this article reviews recent studies on resistance to immune checkpoint therapy.

Influenza is a contagious respiratory virus that infects epithelial cells throughout the respiratory tract. The viral infection is facilitated by the attachment of the viral hemagglutinin to the si...