Skin Cancer & Melanoma

In this article, we provide an overview of the currently available systemic agents, including immunotherapeutic agents and targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors. We also provide a practical management algorithm to guide the practicing oncologist in the use of both of these new therapies and the more traditional local treatments.

One year of combination treatment with dabrafenib plus trametinib reduced the risk for disease recurrence or death by more than half in patients with stage III high-risk BRAF V600E/K melanoma.

Age may be an important factor in estimating lymph node positivity in thin melanoma, according to the results of a recent study.

Much work has been done recently to try to determine the optimal therapies for brain metastases in melanoma patients, the most effective ways to combine them, and ideal radiation dose and fractions.

Standard-dose pembrolizumab with four reduced doses of ipilimumab followed by standard-dose pembrolizumab had a manageable safety profile and antitumor activity in patients with advanced melanoma.

Tumor samples from a single patient with melanoma provided researchers with new information about gene expression profiles that could inform immunotherapy treatments in the future.

The FDA has expanded the approval of ipilimumab (Yervoy) to include the treatment of pediatric melanoma patients 12 years and older with unresectable or metastatic disease.

Patients with advanced melanoma treated with nivolumab had higher and more durable responses compared with investigator’s choice of chemotherapy, but these increases did not result in improved survival outcomes.

Treatment of advanced melanoma with the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab beyond RECIST-defined progression resulted in clinical benefit for selected patients, according to pooled, retrospective data from two phase III trials.

Treatment with single-agent bevacizumab resulted in an improved disease-free interval in patients with resected melanoma, but no increase in overall survival compared with observation.

An anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody is safe and effective for patients with unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Patients with node-positive intermediate-thickness melanoma had an increased rate of regional disease control when undergoing completion lymph-node dissection for sentinel node metastases, however, there was no increase in melanoma-specific survival.

This peer-to-peer discussion reviews the current strategies for managing patients with melanoma, including screening and prognosis for high-risk patients and how to choose the best therapies to avoid toxicities and treatment resistance.

A new triple therapy approach using a checkpoint inhibitor and T-cell therapy is showing considerable promise in the treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma.

Treatment with the combination of the MEK inhibitor binimetinib and the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib resulted in a superior progression-free survival for patients with advanced, unresectable BRAF-mutated melanoma compared with treatment with encorafenib alone.

More than one-third of patients with metastatic uveal melanoma had objective tumor regression when treated with adoptive transfer of autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.

Researchers in Seattle are now reporting success with a biopolymer synthetic scaffold loaded with cancer-fighting T cells and a mix of nutrients to potentially combat solid tumors.

A study has identified several characteristics that can help detect seborrheic keratosis–like melanomas using dermoscopy, which can help to diagnose melanoma.

A nivolumab/ipilimumab combination significantly improved overall survival for advanced melanoma patients.

This video examines phase II results of a single-arm trial that tested checkpoint inhibition plus the IDO–pathway inhibitor indoximod in patients with melanoma.

The combination of an intratumoral injection of CVA21 and ipilimumab has demonstrated durable response with minimal toxicity in patients with advanced melanoma.

The FDA on March 23, 2017, granted accelerated approval to avelumab (Bavencio) for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.

Penn State College of Medicine researchers have discovered a new class of drugs that may keep a deadly form of skin cancer from becoming resistant to treatment.

The MEK inhibitor binimetinib improved progression-free survival compared with dacarbazine in patients with NRAS-mutant melanoma, according to the results of the NEMO trial.

Although long-term melanoma survivors were more likely to report healthier levels of ultraviolet radiation exposure and sun protection behaviors than controls, some still reported indoor tanning or intentionally seeking sun to tan.

Treatment of keratinocyte carcinomas such as basal cell carcinoma and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma with PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors and targeted agents warrant further investigation, according to recently published studies.

Investigators at the University of California, Irvine report that they have uncovered a specific mutation in the ATR gene that allows melanoma tumor cells to remain undetected by the immune system.

The identification of ugly duckling nevi using a whole-body skin examination for intrapatient comparative analysis improves accuracy of melanoma detection.

The immunotherapy pembrolizumab was active in patients with advanced mucosal melanoma enrolled in a series of the KEYNOTE clinical trials, according to data presented at the European Cancer Congress 2017.

Dietary fat intake might promote the growth of melanoma tumors harboring BRAF V600E mutations, and lipid-lowering drugs can slow that growth, according to a mouse study.