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Incidence rates of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) are increasing in many countries. To estimate detailed trends of SCC incidence rates in the population of Akita Prefecture as the forerunner of super‐aged societies, we conducted a retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with SCC between 2007 and 2016 in Akita University Hospital. The crude SCC incidence rate increased rapidly between 2007 and 2016 from 2.5 to 10.0/100 000 people. Remarkably, the age‐specific incidence rate of people aged 80 years or over increased between 2007 and 2016 from 14.7 to 51.6/100 000 people, suggesting that SCC incidence rates increase possibly due to not only the increased number of aged people but also because of unidentified cancer‐prone environments. When the findings of the present study are generalized to other regions entering the era of super‐aging, it is clear that we need to prepare for the economic disease burden together with careful monitoring to confirm future trends for SCC.

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We have now proposed that a targeted therapy with topical 3BP is an innovative strategy for adjuvant chemotherapy of technically or medically unresectable melanoma and possibly other skin cancers.

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Cell polarization and directional sensitization are crucial steps for wound healing. Because atypical protein kinase C isoforms (aPKCz and aPKCi/l) regulate epithelial cell polarity and both isoforms are expressed in the mouse epidermis, we investigated the role of aPKC isoforms in wound healing. When a full-thickness wound was made on the back skin, macroscopic wound closure and re-epithelialization was significantly retarded in epidermalspecific aPKCl-deleted mice (aPKCl cKO) compared with age-matched control mice. The average scar area in the aPKCl cKO mice was about 2-fold larger than that in the control mice at 3 weeks after wounding. Primary keratinocytes derived from newborn aPKCl cKO mice showed higher proliferation activity than those from control littermates. However, the migration of aPKCl-deleted keratinocytes into the wound was severely impaired in in vitro scratch wound healing assay. Migrating control keratinocytes spread well on the type-I collagen coated coverslips and extended microtubule-dependent protrusions toward the wound edge, whereas aPKCl-deleted keratinocytes poorly spread on the coverslip and the direction of microtubule-dependent protrusions was randomized. These results suggest that the defects in wound healing in aPKCl cKO mice are attributed to the impairments in cell polarization. In contrast to aPKCl cKO mice, the process of wound healing in aPKCz-deleted mice and the cell migration activity of aPKCz-deleted keratinocytes into the wound were comparable to those of control littermates. These results indicate that aPKCl plays a primary role in wound healing in the mouse epidermis.