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Preliminary characterization of the skin microbiota in basal cell carcinoma: An exploratory pilot study in Korean patients
Hye Lim Keum, Woo Jun Sul, Suyeon Kim, In-Young Chung, Ara Koh, Hei Sung Kim
Received November 14, 2025  Accepted December 23, 2025  Published online February 13, 2026  
DOI: https://doi.org/10.71150/jm.2511012    [Epub ahead of print]
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AbstractAbstract PDF

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common form of skin cancer, with ultraviolet radiation recognized as the primary environmental driver; however, the potential contribution of alterations in the skin microbiota remains incompletely understood, particularly in Asian populations. This exploratory pilot study describes bacterial community patterns in BCC lesions compared with contralateral clinically normal skin in 20 Korean patients. Lesional and contralateral samples were obtained using paired skin swabs and punch biopsies and analyzed by full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing, with targeted quantitative PCR (qPCR) of the roxP antioxidant gene of Cutibacterium acnes. Given the low-biomass nature of skin samples and the exploratory design, analyses focused on descriptive trends rather than confirmatory inference. Across available samples, C. acnes was the dominant taxon, with a trend toward lower relative abundance in BCC lesions, particularly in biopsy-derived datasets. Microbial evenness appeared higher in lesions than controls. Predictive functional profiling suggested reduced representation of vitamin B6 metabolism pathways in lesions, while qPCR analysis of swab samples showed a trend toward lower roxP/16S rRNA ratios in BCC-associated microbiota. These findings should be interpreted cautiously in light of methodological constraints, including sample heterogeneity, lidocaine exposure prior to biopsy, absence of sequencing-based negative controls, and reliance on predictive functional inference. Overall, this pilot study highlights potential differences in skin bacterial community structure between BCC lesions and contralateral skin in a Korean cohort. Larger, methodologically optimized studies incorporating metagenomic and functional validation will be required to determine whether these microbiota shifts contribute to, or result from, BCC-associated changes in the cutaneous environment.

Journal Article
The response of human bacteria to static magnetic field and radiofrequency electromagnetic field
David P. E. Crabtree , Brandon J. Herrera , Sanghoon Kang
J. Microbiol. 2017;55(10):809-815.   Published online September 28, 2017
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12275-017-7208-7
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AbstractAbstract PDF
Cell phones and electronic appliances and devices are inseparable from most people in modern society and the electromagnetic field (EMF) from the devices is a potential health threat. Although the direct health effect of a cell phone and its radiofrequency (RF) EMF to human is still elusive, the effect to unicellular organisms is rather apparent. Human microbiota, including skin microbiota, has been linked to a very significant role in the health of a host human body. It is important to understand the response of human skin microbiota to the RF-EMF from cell phones and personal electronic devices, since this may be one of the potential mechanisms of a human health threat brought about by the disruption of the intimate and balanced host-microbiota relationship. Here, we investigated the response of both laboratory culture strains and isolates of skin bacteria under static magnetic field (SMF) and RF-EMF. The growth patterns of laboratory cultures of Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus epidermidis under SMF were variable per different species. The bacterial isolates of skin microbiota from 4 subjects with different cell phone usage history also showed inconsistent growth responses. These findings led us to hypothesize that cell phone level RF-EMF disrupts human skin microbiota. Thus, the results from the current study lay ground for more comprehensive research on the effect of RF-EMF on human health through the human-microbiota relationship.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by  
  • The Effect of Exposure to an Electromagnetic Field on Entomopathogenic Fungi
    Dariusz Roman Ropek, Krzysztof Frączek, Krzysztof Pawlak, Karol Bulski, Magdalena Ludwiczak
    Applied Sciences.2024; 14(24): 11508.     CrossRef
  • Effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic fields on flora and fauna, Part 2 impacts: how species interact with natural and man-made EMF
    B. Blake Levitt, Henry C. Lai, Albert M. Manville
    Reviews on Environmental Health.2022; 37(3): 327.     CrossRef
  • Natural and Synthetic Halogenated Amino Acids—Structural and Bioactive Features in Antimicrobial Peptides and Peptidomimetics
    Mario Mardirossian, Marina Rubini, Mauro F. A. Adamo, Marco Scocchi, Michele Saviano, Alessandro Tossi, Renato Gennaro, Andrea Caporale
    Molecules.2021; 26(23): 7401.     CrossRef
  • Biological Effects of a Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Field on Yeast Cells of the Genus Saccharomyces Cerevisiae
    K Sladicekova, M Bereta, J Misek, D Parizek, J Jakus
    Acta Medica Martiniana.2021; 21(2): 34.     CrossRef
  • Effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation on the organism as a whole and structural units (Literature review)
    Rano Z. Lifanova, Valentina S. Orlova, Vladimir V. Tsetlin
    Hygiene and sanitation.2021; 100(2): 123.     CrossRef
  • Effects of Electromagnetic Waves with LTE and 5G Bandwidth on the Skin Pigmentation In Vitro
    Kyuri Kim, Young Seung Lee, Nam Kim, Hyung-Do Choi, Dong-Jun Kang, Hak Rim Kim, Kyung-Min Lim
    International Journal of Molecular Sciences.2020; 22(1): 170.     CrossRef
  • Global gene expression analysis of Escherichia coli K-12 DH5α after exposure to 2.4 GHz wireless fidelity radiation
    Ilham H. Said-Salman, Fatima A. Jebaii, Hoda H. Yusef, Mohamed E. Moustafa
    Scientific Reports.2019;[Epub]     CrossRef
  • Towards 5G communication systems: Are there health implications?
    Agostino Di Ciaula
    International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health.2018; 221(3): 367.     CrossRef

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