Skin Cancer

Individuals who develop frequent basal cell carcinomas may have an increased prevalence of germline mutations in DNA repair genes and an increased malignancy risk.

Mogamulizumab (Poteligeo) is indicated for relapsed or refractory mycosis fungoides or Sézary syndrome following at least one prior systemic therapy.

In this article, we review the published literature and evaluate secondary prevention strategies for nonmelanoma skin cancer. We also explore investigational therapies proposed for chemoprevention of nonmelanoma skin cancers.

Interventions can improve sun protection behaviors, but this does not necessarily correlate with skin cancer/melanoma outcomes, according to a review for the USPSTF.

The incidence of Merkel cell carcinoma, an aggressive neuroendocrine skin cancer, has grown rapidly since the disease was first described in 1972.

Researchers have found that melanoma patients may benefit from a holiday from MAPK inhibitors while alternative therapies stave off emergence of resistant melanoma clones.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Objective tumor responses to pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and nivolumab (Opdivo) are associated with longer times between melanoma diagnosis and treatment.

An experimental checkpoint inhibitor called avelumab may produce quick and durable responses in some patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma.

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., demonstrated how novel immune and targeted therapies with radiation therapy may improve the outcomes of patients with melanoma who have brain metastases.

Combining the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib with the MEK inhibitor binimetinib may significantly improve progression-free survival in BRAF mutant melanoma, according to a new phase III trial.

Lack of knowledge and a belief that dark skin protects against skin cancer are among the barriers preventing minority, uninsured, and immigrant populations from adopting methods for skin cancer prevention.

Researchers from the University of Virginia Cancer Center are now reporting that the experimental agent pevonedistat may be able to combat melanoma in whole new way.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have engineered a remote control switch that uses ultraviolet (UV) light to activate CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing.

Oral vitamin D intake was associated with an increased risk for basal cell carcinoma, but not melanoma, according to two large cohort studies.

Scientists from the Ohio State University (The James) Comprehensive Cancer Center and Perlmutter Cancer Center of NYU School of Medicine have found an association between genes linked to eye color and development of uveal melanoma.