Skin Cancer & Melanoma

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.

A multicenter study showed that an occurrence of posttransplant skin cancer was common among a group of organ transplant recipients.

Participation in a training program increased levels of self-confidence for both patients and their partners in performing skin self-examinations to detect melanoma.

There is a lot of interest in a new treatment that kills approximately 90% of melanoma cancer cells, an astounding accomplishment for Richard Neubig, MD, PhD, who serves as chairperson of pharmacology toxicology at Michigan State University.

Canadian researchers might have discovered why melanoma is more aggressive in men than women: decreased expression of a melanoma tumor suppressor gene on the sex chromosomes.

Effective systemic therapy for the treatment of stage III melanoma has emerged. Whether this influences treatment choice in stage III melanoma patients with in-transit metastases is the subject of this review.

In the recent era of effective systemic therapies for melanoma, the provocative question of whether isolated limb perfusion still plays a role in the treatment of patients with in-transit melanoma metastases is timely and relevant.

Scientists have found a way to detect earlier if Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is recurring in patients. They have published a paper in the journal Cancer demonstrating how an immune system marker may be able to outperform and supplement imaging studies for recurrence of MCC.

Reducing the use of indoor tanning by enforcing an age restriction could potentially reduce melanoma incidence, mortality, and the costs associated with treating the disease, according to results of an economic analysis.

Researchers have identified characteristics associated with improved outcomes when treating BRAF-mutated advanced melanoma with the combination of dabrafenib and trametinib.

An individual’s clinical risk factors could help guide skin cancer screening and identify those at high risk for melanoma who could benefit from increased surveillance.

Researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center’s Integrated Mathematical Oncology (IMO) Department are overcoming some of the limitations of common preclinical experiments and clinical trials by studying cancer through mathematical modeling.

Myocarditis is a rare and sometimes lethal complication of combination immune checkpoint blockade for metastatic melanoma.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor-related neurotoxicities are more frequent in clinical practice than clinical trials.

Results of a meta-analysis revealed that BRAF/MEK and PD-1 inhibition significantly improved survival in BRAF-mutated melanoma compared with other treatments.

In this interview we discuss the idea of using schools to increase knowledge about skin cancer and attitudes toward sun exposure.

A 54-year-old woman is found to have a skin lesion in the right arm. What is your diagnosis?

A novel immunotherapy antibody was safe and showed modest antitumor activity in a phase I clinical trial in advanced melanoma.