All Melanoma News

Multiple variables impact prostate and breast cancer incidence, including genetic heredity as well as environmental and societal influences.

Doctors can often identify signs of a melanoma through a visual examination of a patient’s skin, by using a dermoscope or other tools.

Doctors can often identify signs of a melanoma through a visual examination of a patient’s skin, by using a dermoscope or other tools. But additional information is sometimes needed to make a precise diagnosis, according to SciBase, a medical tech company based in Stockholm, Sweden—which has developed a device it says provides exactly that.

During a Targeted Oncology™ Case-Based Roundtable™ event, Michael B. Atkins, MD, discussed with participants what factors influence the choice of first-line immunotherapy for a patient with BRAF–wild-type metastatic melanoma.

Psoriasis increases the risk of cutaneous melanoma, according to the findings of a new study.

Hussein Tawbi, MD, PhD, presents the case of a 78-year-old man with metastatic melanoma and shares his initial impressions.

Lisa A. Kottschade, RN, CNP, FAPO, discussed immune-related adverse events, which she presented on at The American Journal of Managed Care®’s Institute for Value-Based Medicine® event hosted by Minnesota Oncology in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on September 12. Kottschade, who is primarily interested in malignant melanoma treatment, also discussed the use of biomarkers.

The AES Mid-Career Award recognizes exceptional contributions to the field of electrophoresis, microfluidics, and related areas by an individual who is currently in the middle of their career. This year’s recipient, Robbyn K. Anand, Suresh Faculty Fellow and Carlyle G.

Patients with stage 4 melanoma experience more time toxicity, as they are expected to attend more in-person doctor visits for optimal survival, according to an expert.

The microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is the master regulator of pigment cell development and, as a lineage survival oncogene, plays a crucial role in the skin cancer melanoma and its resistance to therapy.

Researchers from The University of Queensland and The Alfred hospital in Melbourne have identified gene variants which may contribute to people being at higher risk for nodular melanoma.

A new study has revealed why hair loss is associated with increased rates of skin cancer.

Higher health care costs were found to affect patients with stages 2 to 4 melanoma, according to a recent study.

Researchers from The University of Queensland and The Alfred hospital in Melbourne have identified gene variants which may contribute to people being at higher risk for nodular melanoma.

A multicenter Phase II clinical trial showed that combination immunotherapy drug therapy with ipilimumab (an anti-CTLA-4 drug) and nivolumab (an anti-PD-1 therapy) is an effective second-line therapy for patients with melanoma that has progressed on PD-1 inhibitors alone.

Alexander I. Spira, MD, PhD, FACP, co-director, Virginia Cancer Specialists Research Institute, director, Thoracic and Phase I Program, clinical assistant professor, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, discusses the evaluation of the LAG-3 inhibitor fianlimab plus cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) in patients with advanced melanoma who were PD-L1 inhibitor–naïve, as seen in the findings from a phase 1 study (NCT03005782).

Fewer patients were diagnosed with melanoma in 2020 compared with all previous years from 2012 to 2019.

The phase 2 SWOG S1801 trial showed a 42% reduction in 2-year event-free survival for neoadjuvant-adjuvant vs adjuvant-only pembrolizumab for resectable stage IIIB-D/IV melanoma.

Varun Monga, MD, clinical associate professor, internal medicine, hematology, oncology, and blood and marrow transplantation, University of Iowa, discusses the background for investigating the protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5) brain-penetrant inhibitor PRT811 in a phase 1 study (NCT04089449) in patients with recurrent high-grade glioma or uveal melanoma, as well as the agent’s mechanism of action.

In a retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Network Open, Goodman et al found that patients receiving adjuvant PD-1 inhibitor therapy for high-risk resected melanoma often had chronic immune-related adverse events, with some persisting over long-term follow-up.

Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) is not a significant risk factor for melanoma or nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC), according to study results published in the Archives of Dermatological Research.

Nearly two-thirds of patients experienced acute immune-related adverse events.

In a paper appearing in JAMA Dermatology, investigators at the University of Texas MD Anderson

Nicholas Coupe, MBBS, PhD, oncologist, Oxford University Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust, discusses the rationale for investigating IMM60 with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in patients with advanced melanoma or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), as well as key background information that led to this investigation.

The National Cancer Institute estimates that 97,610 people will be diagnosed with melanoma in 2023, making up 5% of all new cancer diagnoses. Fortunately, screening and treatment have improved, allowing care teams to catch melanoma earlier when it’s easier to treat. As a result, the number of people who survive the disease has steadily increased.

A new study led by McGill University examines why people living in Atlantic regions are more at-risk for developing melanoma than other Canadians, providing lessons on skin cancer prevention for the whole country.

Investigators in Canada may have uncovered the factors contributing to the higher risk of melanoma among individuals living in Atlantic regions, according to a recent study published by Lagacé et al in Cancers. These findings may provide insights into effective strategies for skin cancer prevention.

This new research was prospectively gathered in Denmark and involved nationwide, population-based data as well as a uniform approach to melanoma treatment and surveillance.

Endocrine toxic effects were more likely than nonendocrine to become chronic and continue at last follow-up.

Osaka, Japan – Malignant melanoma is a type of skin cancer that originates from melanocytes or nevi, causing about 80% of skin cancer-related deaths. While some cases have shown significant response to existing molecular targeted therapies, as well as immune checkpoint inhibitors, there are also instances in which these treatments have proven ineffective.

Melanoma cases were almost 10 times higher in high Human Development Index countries than in low.

Meredith McKean, MD, MPH, discusses the rationale for investigating the LAG-3 inhibitor fianlimab in combination with cemiplimab-rwlc in patients with advanced melanoma, highlighting the combination’s efficacy in both PD-1 inhibitor-exposed and –naïve populations, as well as the combinations its potential clinical significance within the advanced melanoma space.

A pair of new studies documents initial drops—and, in some cases, rebounds—in cancer diagnoses in Canada and the United States in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Researchers at St George’s, University of London have discovered a technique that can kill skin cancer cells while minimizing damage to healthy cells. The findings are published in the journal Biology Open.

Second-line end points of the TRICOTEL trial assessing atezolizumab plus vemurafenib and cobimetinib in melanoma with central nervous system metastases appear consistent with primary efficacy end points.

About The Study: Researchers identified decreases of in situ and invasive melanoma diagnoses during 2020, which may reflect decreased skin cancer screening examinations or access to dermatologic care during the pandemic, both of which may lead to reduced melanoma diagnoses.

A collaborative study led by IRB Barcelona, Navarrabiomed and the Institute of Neurosciences CSIC-UMH shows that the administration of ranolazine, a drug currently used to treat heart conditions, improves the efficacy of current therapies for melanoma in mouse models of the disease.

Fecal microbiota profiles were significantly different between patients with melanoma and controls, and between patients with early-stage and late-stage melanoma, according to study results published in JAMA Dermatology.

Precision therapies, although effective in earlier stages, may not work later.

Sunscreen allergies in children “are rare cases. The real danger is sunburn: 5 episodes under the age of 20 increase the possibility of developing melanoma or other skin tumors by up to 80%.

While the linkage between squamous cell cancers and genital lichen sclerosus has been well-established, fewer studies have examined the associations between penile melanomas in males

The natural killer (NK) T-cell agonist IMM60 may overcome resistance to PD-1 inhibitors when combined with immunotherapy in patients with melanoma and non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to Nicholas Coupe, MBBS, PhD, who emphasized the tolerable safety profile seen so far with this combination.

Patients with the DecisionDx-Melanoma 31-gene expression profile test had a 29% lower melanoma-specific survival mortality.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) demonstrated long-term survival benefit compared with ipilimumab (Yervoy) in patients with unresectable stage III/IV melanoma who received up to 1 prior systemic therapy, according to 7-year follow-up data from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-006 (NCT01866319) trial, which included some patients who transitioned to the phase 3 KEYNOTE-587 (NCT03486873) extension study, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

During a Targeted Oncology™ Case-Based Roundtable™ event, April K.S. Salama, MD, discussed treatment approaches for a 78-year-old patient with metastatic melanoma discovered 12 years after surgical resection.

Inderjit Mehmi, MD, discusses results from a subgroup analysis of patients with advanced melanoma and poor-risk features given fianlimab and cemiplimab in a phase 1 trial.

According to study authors, this electrical communication between skin cells may have the potential for therapeutic implications.

A new study led by McGill University examines why people living in Atlantic regions are more at-risk for developing melanoma than other Canadians, providing lessons on skin cancer prevention for the whole country.

Patients with advanced melanoma receiving nivolumab in combination with ipilimumab as first-line treatment experience longer treatment-free survival than those receiving nivolumab or pembrolizumab monotherapy, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

Researchers found significant difference in survival rates between lentigo maligna melanoma, nodular malignant melanoma, and superficial spreading melanoma.

Out of 60,680 patients with skin of color, eight were diagnosed with melanoma, with two considered high risk.

Histologic margin status is a predictor of lentigo maligna melanoma progression.

In part 2 of a phase III trial (COLUMBUS) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Paolo A. Ascierto, MD, and colleagues found evidence that MEK inhibition contributed to positive outcomes with combination BRAF/MEK inhibitor therapy in advanced BRAF V600–mutant melanoma.

Melanoma Canada is aiming to educate beachgoers about the staggering statistics surrounding its namesake disease with a new playful campaign that carries a sobering message: “There’s no such thing as a safe tan.”

Using the 31-gene expression profile assay may help lead to more personalized treatment strategies in patients with cutaneous melanoma, according to Aaron Farberg, MD.

Adding binimetinib to treatment with encorafenib improves efficacy in patients with BRAFV600-mutant melanoma, according to trial results published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In a new study appearing in the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, researchers from the University of

Chronic immunotherapy-related complications are more prevalent and persistent than previously shown among melanoma survivors, according to new research published Aug. 3 in JAMA Network Open.

Conjunctival melanoma is an uncommon but aggressive ocular malignancy with high potential for metastasis, reported at 25% at 10 years and more than 30% at 15 years.

PHILADELPHIA – The transfer of a neurotransmitter from one type of skin cell to another (melanocytes to keratinocytes) altered electrical activity and promoted melanoma initiation in preclinical models, according to results published in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Researchers found an increase in patients with melanoma who experience chronic immune-related adverse effects at 18 months compared to a previous study with a follow-up point of 6 months.

Findings may have therapeutic implications because of the potential to target neurotransmitters to treat or prevent melanoma.

Patients with resectable melanoma who received T-VEC prior to surgery achieved better 5-year OS than those who underwent surgery alone.

A collaborative study undertaken by the Navarrabiomed Biomedical Research Center (Pamplona, Navarre), the Institute of Neurosciences CSIC-UMH (Sant Joan d’Alacant, Valencian Community) and IRB Barcelona (Barcelona, Catalonia) shows that the administration of ranolazine, a drug currently used to treat heart conditions, improves the efficacy of current therapies for melanoma, in mouse models of this disease.

BUFFALO, NY- July 19, 2023 – A new editorial paper was published in Oncotarget’s Volume 14 on May 26, 2023, entitled, “Combined targeting of HEDGEHOG signaling and BRD4 as a novel therapeutic option against melanoma.”

Ryan J. Sullivan, MD, associate professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, associate director. the Melanoma Program, Massachusetts General Cancer, discusses the early reduction of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma treated with tebentafusp-tebn (Kimmtrak) and shares how these reductions could correlate with longer overall survival (OS) in patients with a best response of stable disease.

Advancements have been made over the last decade in the use of immunotherapy for the treatment of skin cancers including melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and Merkel cell carcinoma.

Significant detection of low-risk melanoma in situ (MIS) among health-seeking individuals may help those who become diagnosed with low-risk MIS to live longer than those in the general population without history of MIS, according to study findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Dermatology.

New York, NY(July 27, 2023)-Investigators at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have designed an innovative RNA-based strategy to activate dendritic cells—which play a key role in immune response—that eradicated tumors and prevented their recurrence in mouse models of melanoma.

Newswise — Immune-checkpoint inhibitors have become the standard of care for patients with advanced melanoma to improve survival, but only some patients respond to this immunotherapy and have long-term benefits.

Sarah Weiss, MD, discusses the ongoing phase 2/3 TEBE-AM trial of tebentafusp with or without pembrolizumab in a subset of pretreated patients with non-uveal melanoma.

Illustration of the closing of the cancer-immunity cycle by integrating lipid nanoparticle-mRNA formulations and cell therapy (CATCH). Credit: Dong et al., Nature Nanotechnology

A recent study documented the benefits of maintaining normal vitamin D levels for patients with inoperable, locally advanced or metastatic melanoma receiving anti-PD-1 immunotherapy.

Elizabeth Buchbinder, MD, assistant professor, Medicine, Harvard Medical School, senior physician, Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the rationale for investigating nivolumab (Opdivo) maintenance therapy in patients with melanoma who experienced severe immune-related adverse effects (irAEs) due to combination therapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab (Yervoy), and details the findings of this investigation.

In separate live, virtual events, Hussein A. Tawbi, MD, PhD; and Allison Betof Warner, MD, PhD, discuss potential treatment options for a patient with BRAF mutation–negative melanoma.

The final phase of clinical trials of Moderna’s V940 anti-melanoma vaccine is underway, in combination with Merck’s Keytruda immunotherapy.

It’s a Thursday morning in July and Lauren Rothwell ’26 sits in one of Bryant’s research labs concentrating on a row of vials. Hovering a pipette over the third glass tube, she is busy setting up glycerol stocks to freeze bacteria.

In ethnic and racial minority populations, more than 12,000 standard skin cancer screenings would be done to identify 1 case of melanoma, according to a recent study.

Study finds that use of mHealth app could be useful in early detection of skin cancer but cautions that overdiagnosis is a possibility.

During a Targeted Oncology™ Case-Based Roundtable™ event, Evan J. Lipson, MD, and participants discussed when they would use monotherapy or doublet therapy in metastatic melanoma.

In a world-first clinical trial published in the journal Nature Medicine, a multi-centre study from Lawson Health Research Institute, the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) and the Jewish General Hospital (JGH) has found fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) from healthy donors are safe and show promise in improving response to immunotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma.

The benefit of nivolumab/ipilimumab plus single-agent nivolumab for unresectable advanced melanoma with poor prognostic characteristics was comparable in all-comers and patients with brain metastases.

Cancer of the skin is by far the most common of all cancers. Melanoma accounts for only about 1% of skin cancers but causes a large majority of skin cancer deaths.

Varun Monga, MBBS, discusses the mechanism of action of PRT811, key efficacy and safety findings from a phase 1 trial investigating the agent, and potential future directions with this agent in uveal melanoma and IDH-mutant high-grade glioma.

A new study identified the elements that could determine the overall survival of patients with the metastatic eye tumor, uveal melanoma.

WASHINGTON, July 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the largest non-profit funder of melanoma research, today announced that the RARE Registry for acral and mucosal melanoma has officially surpassed 100 patients, making it the largest registry of its kind in the world and marking an important milestone in advancing cutting-edge research for these rare and difficult-to-treat melanoma subtypes.

Melanocytes are a small subset of epidermal cells that play an outsize role in protecting your skin from the damaging effects of sun exposure.

Exarafenib, a pan-RAF inhibitor being investigated as a monotherapy in BRAF and NRAS-driven solid tumors by Kinnate Biopharma, was well-tolerated and demonstrated early signs of activity with durable responses in various patient populations, including those with BRAF Class II and NRAS-mutant melanoma, according to early Phase I trial results.

The DecisionDx-Melanoma 31-gene expression profile test displayed the capability to stratify patients with cutaneous melanoma by risk of death from the disease and receival of the 31-GEP test may result in a survival benefit compared with untested patients.

This transcript has been edited for clarity. For more episodes, download the Medscape app or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast provider.

Treating advanced melanoma with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) can be safe and effective in patients with concomitant chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), according to a study published in Annals of Oncology.

During a Targeted Oncology™ Case-Based Roundtable™ event, Sajeve S. Thomas, MD, discussed key trials of immunotherapy in terms of safety and efficacy for patients with metastatic melanoma.

What are the implications of new approvals for oncology nurses specializing in melanoma?

Vitamin D insufficiency was found to be weakly linked to an increased incidence of cutaneous melanoma (CM), and lower vitamin D levels were associated with a less favorable Breslow tumor depth, according to authors of a systematic review and meta-analysis published in Melanoma Research.

According to an analysis of Medicare fee-for- service beneficiaries treated with chemotherapy between 2010 and 2017, the speed at which immunotherapy is adopted by oncology practices depends on their size, location, and affiliation (rural or urban, independent or health system–affiliated, academic or nonacademic, smaller or larger [1 to 5 physicians vs 6 or more]).

An expert gives an overview of the treatment options for uveal melanoma, and why he considers hope to be an essential part of the care plan.

Scientists at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified potential new biomarkers that could indicate how someone diagnosed with metastatic melanoma will respond to immunotherapy treatment.

Scientists at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified potential new biomarkers that could indicate how someone diagnosed with metastatic melanoma will respond to immunotherapy treatment.

Memory killer cells have been shown to respond to immunotherapy, which is normally administered as a complement to other cancer treatments.

The microRNA member miR-204-5p inhibits apoptosis in melanoma cells treated with dacarbazine or when overexpressed.

Vanderbilt investigators have revealed the mechanisms by which the chemokine receptor CXCR2, is associated with melanoma tumor formation and growth — a discovery that supports the continued development of drugs that inhibit the receptor’s activity.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) led to sustained improvements in recurrence-free survival (RFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) vs placebo as adjuvant therapy in patients with resected stage IIB or IIC melanoma, according to updated data from the phase 3 KEYNOTE-716 trial (NCT03553836) presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting.

In season 4, episode 9 of Targeted Talks, Kerry Reynolds, MD, clinical director, inpatient oncology units, director, Severe Immunotherapy Complications Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the occurrence of myocarditis in patients with cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs).

Incorporating a personalized mRNA vaccine, designed to match an individual’s tumor genetics, into standard immunotherapy substantially boosts survival rates and reduces the recurrence of high-risk skin cancers in patients who have had these malignancies removed

New research from Sanford Burnham Prebys has helped explain how melanoma evades the immune system and may guide the discovery of future therapies for the disease.

Cancer—basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and melanoma.

Danielle K. DePalo, MD, Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses findings from a study comparing first-line isolated limb infusion/perfusion vs immune checkpoint inhibitors and intratumoral therapy in patients with surgically unresectable melanoma in-transit metastases.

62.5% of 128 patients were diagnosed with a melanoma less than 1 mm thick after having conducted skin self-examinations (SSE).

A poster presentation from the 19th Annual Skin of Color Society Scientific Symposium analyzed the differences in presentation of cutaneous melanoma among Asian American and Pacific Islander patients.

Mortality among patients aged 80 years or older was 7.4% vs. 1.4% in those aged 60 to 69 years.

During a Targeted Oncology™ Case-Based Roundtable™ event, Evan J. Lipson, MD, and participants discussed factors influencing their choice of immunotherapy for a patient with BRAF-negative metastatic melanoma.

The incidence rate of melanoma in situ (MIS) has sharply risen since 1975.

The rates of survival and disease recurrence improved significantly when a personalized mRNA vaccine tailored to the patients’ tumor genetics was coupled with immunotherapy in those who had undergone surgery for high-risk melanoma, according to novel findings presented by Khattak et al at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting (Abstract LBA9503).

Omid Hamid, MD, discusses the investigation of the LAG-3 inhibitor fianlimab in combination with cemiplimab in patients with advanced melanoma who were naïve to anti–PD-1 agents in the advanced setting.

Newswise — A fresh analysis performed at Tel Aviv University and the Sheba Medical Center unveils how melanoma tumor cells impact their nearby surroundings to aid their requirements – by generating fresh lymph channels in the dermis to penetrate further into the skin and extend throughout the body. The scientists hold the view that this novel finding might aid in the advancement of an immunization against this fatal cancer.

In the past decade, advances in the understanding of melanoma have led to new therapeutic options and treatment strategies. In response, late last year the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) released updated guidelines on the management of primary cutaneous melanoma.

A new study conducted at Tel Aviv University and the Sheba Medical Center reveals how melanoma cancer cells affect their close environment to support their needs – by forming new lymph vessels in the dermis in order to go deeper into the skin and spread through the body.

his transcript has been edited for clarity.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

In an interview with Pharmacy Times at the Oncology Pharmacists Connect conference in Austin, Texas, Heidi Finnes, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA, director of clinical ambulatory pharmacy practice at Mayo Clinic, discussed updates in melanoma and the use of immunotherapies and targeted therapies.

In an interview with Pharmacy Times at the Oncology Pharmacists Connect conference, Heather Armbruster, PharmD, BCOP, outpatient clinical pharmacy manager at Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, discussed the growing armamentarium of treatment options for non-melanoma skin cancers. With immune checkpoint inhibitors in particular, patients are seeing greater results with fewer adverse effects.

Background — The efficacy-effectiveness gap between randomized trial and real-world evidence regarding the clinical benefit of ipilimumab for metastatic melanoma (MM) has been well characterized by previous literature, consistent with initial concerns raised by health technology assessment agencies (HTAs).

In the adjuvant setting for high-risk melanoma, findings from the phase 2b mRNA-4157-P201/KEYNOTE-942 trial (NCT03897881) that evaluated mRNA-4157/V940 in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed improved recurrence-free survival (RFS) compared with pembrolizumab alone.

Asian American and Pacific Islander patients have a longer time to melanoma treatment compared with white patients.

Dustin Portela, DO, a board-certified dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon at Treasure Valley Dermatology in Boise, Idaho, interviews a patient who has been battling metastatic stage IV melanoma for many years. In his most recent Health IQ podcast, Portela speaks with Katie, who used her experience of her melanoma diagnosis to become an advocate for those living with melanoma.

Among Asian patients, a high proportion of head and neck malignant melanomas (HNMs) are of the nodular subtype and are associated with poor outcomes and low survival, researchers reported in Melanoma Research.

A new study that sheds light on how B cells react to skin cancer cells could pave the way for innovative therapy design.

This new research indicates substantial detection of lower-risk disease among patients who are considered to be health-seeking.

Patients with vitiligo were found to have a reduced incidence of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers in a UK-based study.

Investigators from the Barts Cancer Institute at Queen Mary University of London have discovered that mitochondrial dynamics control migration of melanoma skin cancer cells, according to the results of a study published in Nature Communications.

A higher level of knowledge about melanoma risk is associated with an increased likelihood of performing preventative behaviors, according to research presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting.

Targeted adjuvant therapy does not improve outcomes in patients with stage III melanoma, according to a Swedish study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

“My own physician assistant, Monique, she’s priceless. I can’t live without her; she works with me on the research side. So if the value of a PA in an office has to be demonstrated, I’ll just show you her picture,” said Neal Bhatia, MD, ahead of the 2023 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference for PAs and NPs.

Overall survival for patients with melanoma that has spread to the brain is only four to six months. Immunotherapies, which harness the power of the immune system to attack cancer cells, have garnered excitement in recent years for their potential to revolutionize the treatment of metastatic melanomas, but results from early clinical studies indicate that the prognosis for most patients with brain metastatic disease remains poor.

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer. It has become a significant global public health concern. The American Cancer Society predicts that approximately 97,610 new cases of Melanoma will be diagnosed in the United States in 2023, with more men than women affected. Early identification and effective management of this disease are crucial in improving the survival rates of people with Melanoma.

Among patients with advanced melanoma with disease progression following treatment with anti–PD-1/L1 therapy, relatlimab plus nivolumab (Opdualag) demonstrated early signs of clinical benefit, according to findings from cohort D of the phase 1/2 RELATIVITY-020 trial (NCT01968109) published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Our skin contains specialized long-lived killer cells that protect against intruders. Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark have now identified how these cells are formed, and shown that high levels of memory killer cells in cancer tissue correlate with a better survival rate in people with melanoma. The study is published in the journal Immunity.

Marlana M. Orloff, MD, offers advice for patients who are diagnosed with metastatic uveal melanoma.

Marc S. Ernstoff, MD, chief for the ImmunoOncology branch of the Developmental Therapeutics Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis at the National Cancer Institute, provides recommendations for managing patients with metastatic melanoma.

CHICAGO — Tumor lymph node dissection likely can be omitted for patients with melanoma who achieve major pathologic response after neoadjuvant immune checkpoint blockade, according to study results presented at ASCO Annual Meeting.

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that forms in skin cells called melanocytes, which are responsible for producing the pigment that gives skin its color.

Four biomarkers appeared associated with longer RFS with nivolumab but not placebo.

Hussein A. Tawbi, MD, PhD, professor, deputy chair, director, Personalized Cancer Therapy, Department of Melanoma Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the 2-year findings from the phase 2/3 RELATIVITY-047 trial (NCT03470922) of nivolumab plus relatlimab-rmbw (Opdualag) in treatment-naïve patients with metastatic or unresectable melanoma.

Moderna and MSD revealed an update on results demonstrating an improved distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) when their mRNA vaccine was used in combination with Keytruda (pembrolizumab), at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.

Addressing racial disparities in skin cancer involves education, understanding rates of risk and ethnicity, and knowledge of the different types of melanoma, which makes skin cancer disparities complex to attack, said Sancy Leachman, MD, PhD, professor and chair in the Department of Dermatology and director of the Melanoma Research Program at the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Science University.

Sunandana Chandra, MD, MS: Dr Pavlick, given the logistical challenges of delivering intralesional therapies, can you describe the way your practice does it so our audience can glean some tips as they try to develop these in their own institutions and hospitals?

Imiquimod treatment for 16 weeks exhibited a 90% tumor clearance rate in persistent MMIS at margins of resection.

As interest in neoadjuvant treatment in melanoma grows, it’s important to determine the best approaches for investigating new therapeutic agents and post-treatment options for patients.

In patients with advanced melanoma, a telehealth exercise intervention was feasible, safe, and improved physical function while also improving quality of life.

A comprehensive analysis found patients with hematologic malignancies and advanced melanoma who were treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors experienced significantly worse melanoma-related outcomes compared to patients without hematologic malignancies.

RNA derived tape stripping proved to have a 100% sensitivity for identifying cutaneous malignant melanoma.

A new research paper was published in Oncotarget’s Volume 14 on May 26, 2023, entitled, “Deconstructing the role of MALAT1 in MAPK-signaling in melanoma: insights from antisense oligonucleotide treatment."

A number of novel immunotherapies, such as PD-1 inhibitors and targeted drug therapies with BRAF and MEK inhibitors, have become available for managing advanced melanoma.

In a recent systematic review, researchers sought to evaluate the historical evidence of pediatric melanoma, citing the current evidence’s heterogeneity, particularly regarding melanoma subtypes and prognosis. Furthermore, they intended to highlight major sources of pediatric melanoma heterogeneity, particularly among single patients.

Sunandana Chandra, MD, MS: We’ve talked a lot about different trials that led to the FDA approval of some of these agents. What are some of the more meaningful end points?

Sunandana Chandra, MD, MS: To expound on that a bit more, Dr Pavlick, when you’re thinking of a combination immunotherapy approach for a patient, how do you decide between the 2 combinations that are FDA approved?

Although skin cancer is the most common type of cancer worldwide, melanoma — the deadliest form of skin cancer — has a 5-year survival rate of 99% when detected early.

The following is a summary of “Distinct genomic features in a retrospective cohort of mucosal, acral, and vulvovaginal melanomas,” published in the MAY 2023 issue of Dermatology by Shi, et al.

During a Targeted Oncology™ Case-Based Roundtable™ event, Michael B. Atkins, MD, and participants discussed the case of a 73-year-old man with a history of melanoma whose disease is now metastatic

During a Targeted Oncology™ Case-Based Roundtable™ event, Michael B. Atkins, MD, and participants discussed the case of a 73-year-old man with a history of melanoma whose disease is now metastatic

A review of randomized clinical trials using the World Health Organization’s framework for clinical adherence to point to key knowledge gaps in self-exam knowledge among those at high risk for skin cancer.

Sunandana Chandra, MD, MS: Talk briefly about patients with high-risk melanoma. For example, for patients with stage III melanoma, a number of trials have led to approvals initially of high-dose ipilimumab and anti–PD-1, as well as combination BRAF/MEK for those who have a BRAF mutation. For a patient with stage III disease, Dr Khushalani, when do you decide to treat and with what agent, especially if they’re BRAF mutated?

Sunandana Chandra, MD, MS: Let’s switch gears and talk about the treatment modality of tumor-directed oncolytic therapies. These are intralesional therapies that many medical oncologists often employ in our practices. Dr Khushalani, when do you consider usage of this particular treatment modality for your patients?

On this episode of The Vitals, Oncology Nursing News® talks with Amber Pierce RN, BSN, OCN, regional nurse manager at Oncology Hematology Associates, an American Oncology Network partner practice, about the importance of 2-step verification with nivolumab and relatlimab-rmbw (Opdualag), which was approved for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma in March 2022.

With the weather warming up, and the Met Office predicting another summer of high temperatures, it’s important to factor in sun protection within your health and safety advice, specifically to those who spend prolonged periods outdoors.

A function of immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as PD-1 and PD-L1 inhibitors, is to allow normal tissues to coexist with the immune system and avoid triggering a destructive response.

In a study, researchers sought to obtain up-to-date information about changes in the metastatic melanoma progression journey, particularly to varying regions, and even organs of the body, in order to improve patient treatment response and survival rates.

The 31-gene expression profile test, DecisionDx-Melanoma, demonstrated improved risk stratification over American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging alone in patients with stage I cutaneous melanoma, according to a press release from Castle Biosciences, Inc.

In a new translational study from UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, researchers analyzed genetic changes in the organs of recently deceased patients to understand how metastatic cutaneous melanoma spreads in those who had initially benefited from precision therapies. Results are published online ahead of print in Nature Medicine.

Researchers from Harvard’s Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (HSCRB)’s Zon lab have discovered a new mechanism that influences melanoma development, a finding that could have wide implications for patients across a variety of cancers.

NEW YORK — Researchers have uncovered genetic and gene expression changes in the organs of patients who died of precision treatment-resistant metastatic cutaneous melanoma.

Researchers from Harvard’s Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (HSCRB)’s Zon lab have discovered a new mechanism that influences melanoma development, a finding that could have wide implications for patients across a variety of cancers.

The following is a summary of “Risk of recurrence of nail unit melanoma after functional surgery versus amputation,” published in the January 2023 issue of Dermatology by Oh, et al.

The regional treatment conferred a significantly higher overall response rate than best alternative care.

Marc S. Ernstoff, MD, chief for the ImmunoOncology branch of the Developmental Therapeutics Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis at the National Cancer Institute, discusses why physicians would treat metastatic melanoma with immunotherapy prior to small molecule inhibitors in most cases.

The following is a summary of “Survival and tumor characteristics of patients presenting with single primary versus second primary melanoma lesions,” published in the MAY 2023 issue of Dermatology by Sarver, et al.

Researchers have found that studying the landscape of DNA and RNA alterations across multiple organs of metastasis may provide a new direction in cancer therapeutics to address treatment failure, according to a new study published by Liu et al in Nature Medicine. The new findings from analyzing genetic changes in the organs of recently deceased patients may help researchers understand how metastatic cutaneous melanoma spreads in those who had initially benefited from precision therapies.

Sunandana Chandra, MD, MS: Let’s switch gears and talk about unresectable metastatic melanoma next. Dr Pavlick, when a patient walks in your office with unresectable metastatic melanoma, what are the decisions that drive your selection of treatments to offer or discuss with the patient?

May is National Skin Cancer and Melanoma Awareness Month. Learn about the latest advances and research in skin cancer and melanoma.

Sathya Neelature Sriramareddy, MD, PhD, postdoctoral fellow, Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses how the interaction between uveal melanoma cells and the liver microenvironment could influence metastasis growth and therapeutic response.

In this episode of The Vitals, Krista M. Rubin, RN, MS, FNP-BC, joins Oncology Nursing News® to discuss best nursing practices with tebentafusp-tebn (Kimmtrak) for patients with unresectable or metastatic uveal melanoma. Rubin is a nurse practitioner with the Center for Melanoma at Massachusetts General Hospital, with over 20 years of experience caring for patients with melanoma. She is also the chair of the Melanoma Nursing Initiative.

The incorporation of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing into standard practice for patients with metastatic uveal melanoma receiving tebentafusp-tebn (Kimmtrak) may provide a more accurate assessment of the agent’s efficacy compared with radiographic response, and better inform the decision to continue or discontinue treatment, according to Ryan J. Sullivan, MD.

The following is a summary of “Local Recurrence Rates of Malignant Melanoma After Mohs Micrographic Surgery Are Lowest With 5- to 10-mm Initial Margins: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis,” published in the Feb 2023 issue of Dermatologic Surgery by Campbell et al.

Promising preclinical findings have demonstrated that IRAK-4 is a viable target to increase the efficacy of immunotherapy in patients with melanoma who have brain metastases. The development of the oral, IRAK-4 inhibitor, CA-4948, showed enhanced antitumor activity and efforts are underway to evaluate the agent in combination with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in a first in-human clinical trial (NCT05669352), according to Bently Doonan, MD.

Dermatologist cooperation with a market-approved convolutional neural network (CNN) may improve skin lesion identification performance, according to recent findings.

Oncologists take multiple treatment attributes into consideration when deciding between options for patients with BRAF V600E/K-mutant metastatic melanoma.

The incidence of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer appears to be markedly low among people with vitiligo, as reported in a study.

“Medical Journeys" is a set of clinical resources reviewed by doctors, meant for physicians and other healthcare professionals as well as the patients they serve.

Researchers have identified gene mutations that cause cancer in a previously unknown way.

What data from the CheckMate 067 (NCT01844505), KEYNOTE-006 (NCT01866319), and RELATIVITY-047 (NCT03470922) trials would influence your choice of immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma?

Clinical eligibility guidelines determine the criteria by which patients are selected for various medical procedures. But strict reliance on established guidelines can overlook patients who might benefit from a procedure, while selecting some who are unlikely to benefit.

NEW YORK – Diagnostic firm SkylineDx said Thursday that it is partnering with German test developer NeraCare on that firm’s Immunoprint proteomic test for melanoma.

Published in the journal Genes & Development*, results of a study led by Laura Soucek, co-Director of the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology’s Preclinical and Translational Research Program, show that the expression of Omomyc in preclinical melanoma models disrupts MYC activity and alters gene expression profiles, reducing cancer proliferation and progression.

Media outlets have reported the encouraging findings of clinical trials for a new experimental vaccine developed by the biotech company Moderna to treat an aggressive type of skin cancer called melanoma.

Dutch diagnostics corporation SkylineDx and German company NeraCare have entered a strategic partnership to advance precision medicine for early-stage melanoma.

Patients with melanoma who had normal vitamin D levels at baseline or with supplementation had a higher response rate to immunotherapy.

It’s only April, but many people across the country and the globe are already enjoying summerlike temperatures. But getting out in the sun also increases your risk of getting skin cancer.

The personalized mRNA-based cancer vaccine mRNA-4157 (V940) plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) demonstrated efficacy in the adjuvant setting for patients with resected high-risk melanoma. Findings from the open-label, randomized, phase 2b mRNA-4157-P201/KEYNOTE-942 trial (NCT03897881), showed that the combination improved recurrence-free survival (RFS) compared with pembrolizumab alone, regardless of tumor mutational burden (TMB).

Skin cancer is the most diagnosed malignancy in the United States today, with the American Academy of Dermatology estimating that 20% of Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime, and approximately 9500 individuals in the United States are diagnosed with skin cancer every day.

Reporting from AACR 2023, Jeffrey S. Weber presents the results from primary analysis of the KEYNOTE-942 trial, testing a combination of pembrolizumab plus a novel mRNA-based vaccine based on personalised neoantigens from patients with high-risk resected melanoma, compared to pembrolizumab alone.

Ryan J. Sullivan, MD, associate professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School; associate professor, hematology/oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses findings from a study investigating the effects of early circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) reduction on overall survival (OS) in patients with uveal melanoma treated with tebentafusp-tebn (Kimmtrak).

With summer nearly here, the work of Quincy Gu, a bioinformatics and computational biology Ph.D candidate at the U of M Rochester, takes on particular significance.

Researchers from King’s College London and Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust report their new class of immunotherapy shows promising results for fighting melanomas, the most aggressive form of skin cancer. The results show that an IgE antibody activates the immune response to fight cancer and slows melanoma growth in mice.

Ryan J. Sullivan, MD, associate professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School; associate professor, hematology/oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital, explains the prolongation of survival with tebentafusp-tebn (Kimmtrak) despite apparent initial radiographic tumor progression in patients with uveal melanoma.

A new class of immunotherapy shows promising results for fighting the most aggressive form of skin cancer.

Researchers from Harvard’s Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology (HSCRB)’s Zon lab have discovered a new mechanism that influences melanoma development, a finding that could have wide implications for patients across a variety of cancers.

A new class of immunotherapy shows promising results in patients who have the most aggressive form of skin cancer. from King’s College London and Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust studied whether a novel antibody can target and treat aggressive melanomas. According to study results, it activates the immune response to fight cancer and slows down the growth of melanoma in mice.

Researchers have discovered the reason why some skin cancers cease to respond to treatment toward the end of the patient’s life.

Invasive melanomas may be detected as small-diameter lesions and are potentially metastatic, according to study findings published in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

When a patient is diagnosed with advanced melanoma, they usually are treated with immune therapies like anti-PD-1 blockade and anti-CTLA-4 blockade, in combination or alone. By blocking different proteins that diminish the effectiveness of T cells, these checkpoint inhibitors enhance the body’s immune response to cancer.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands and SAN DIEGO, Calif., April 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — SkylineDx, an innovative diagnostics company focused on research & development of molecular diagnostics for oncology and inflammatory diseases, today announced research demonstrating significant cost-saving potential with use of its Merlin test, which may reduce the rate of unnecessary sentinel lymph node biopsies (SLNB) in SLNB-eligible patients with cutaneous melanoma.

In season 4, episode 4 of Targeted Talks, Richard D. Carvajal, MD, deputy physician in chief and director of Medical Oncology, Northwell Health Cancer Institute, discusses mucosal melanoma and treatment options for the disease.

From explaining how medications work and should be taken to reviewing potential adverse effects and financial details, pharmacists are crucial resources for patients undergoing treatment for skin cancer.

Richard D. Carvajal, MD, deputy physician-in-chief and director of medical oncology at the Northwell Health Cancer Institute and R. J. Zuckerberg Chair in Medical Oncology, discusses the factors that lead to poorer outcomes for patients with mucosal melanoma.

Each patient needs to weigh the benefits and risks of genetic testing for melanoma and have someone who can take the time to explain everything, including insurance risks, said Sancy Leachman, MD, PhD, professor and chair in the Department of Dermatology and director of the Melanoma Research Program at the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Science University.

Data from a national clinical trial shows that a striking 89% of patients with desmoplastic melanoma responded to immunotherapy (pembrolizumab) alone, suggesting that many patients could avoid the risk for toxicity from combination therapies and achieve cancer control with this approach to treatment.

Patients with unresectable metastatic desmoplastic melanoma, a rare amelonotic subtype of cutaneous melanoma, achieved high response rates when treated with single-agent pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in the SWOG S1512 trial (NCT02775851), according to data presented during the 2023 AACR Annual Meeting.

Radiation necrosis (RN) is common in patients who have undergone stereotactic radiation surgery (SRS) for the treatment of intracranial metastasis (ICM) from melanoma, with poor clinical outcomes, according to research recently published in Clinical Medicine Insights: Oncology.

There are 3-gene expression profiling pigmented lesion assays (3-GEP PLA) which detect the 3 genes in a noninvasive manner. These genes are Long Intergenic Non-Protein Coding RNA 518 (LINC00518), Preferentially Expressed Antigen in Melanoma (PRAME), and mutated Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (TERT).

Researchers say they have found out how some skin cancers stop responding to treatment at the end of life. An analysis of 14 patients who died from incurable melanoma has revealed that changes to the order, structure, and number of copies of tumor DNA could cause some skin cancers to resist treatment. These changes also explain how melanoma can spread to other parts of the body.

Malignant melanoma is a relatively aggressive type of skin cancer. When detected early, it is usually treatable by surgical resection only, but metastases develop, often spreading to distant areas.

Julia Stevens, PharmD, BCOP, Clinical Pharmacy Specialist – Ambulatory Oncology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, discusses recent developments and patient considerations for 2 recent approved first-line therapies for melanoma at Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA) Annual Conference 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona, from March 29 to April 1, 2023.

The following is a summary of “Sentinel lymph node biopsy status improves adjuvant therapy decision-making in patients with clinical stage IIB/C melanoma: A population-based analysis,” published in the APRIL 2023 issue of Dermatology by Sharon, et al.

Researchers have found that a novel approach to administer intrathecal and intravenous nivolumab has proven safe and improved survival in a subset of patients who developed leptomeningeal disease from metastatic melanoma, according to a new study published by Glitza Olivia et al in Nature Medicine.

In a first analysis of a randomised controlled phase III study conducted among previously untreated patients with isolated liver metastases from primary uveal melanoma, a single treatment with isolated hepatic perfusion with melphalan was well tolerated with manageable side effects and resulted in significantly higher overall response rate (ORR) and improved progression-free survival (PFS) and hepatic PFS (hPFS) compared with the investigator’s choice of available treatments.

Cutaneous melanoma responds to targeted therapies (TT) and immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in 3 phases, according to a recent review.

Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab may significantly improve the management of desmoplastic melanoma, increasing the likelihood of successful resection and reducing the need for further surgery or radiation therapy, according to the response data presented at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting, with the surgical considerations presented at the 2023 Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) International Conference on Surgical Cancer Care.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) retreatment in advanced melanoma is used in clinical practice, but there is a lack of evidence to support it, according to research presented at the NCCN 2023 Annual Conference.

In mice with melanoma, probiotic bacteria travel from the gut and establish in tumors, where they directly stimulate immune cells to make cancer immunotherapy more effective, according to a new study led by University of Pittsburgh researchers.

A group of researchers sought out to determine the incidence of brain metastases and its true rate of occurrence in patients with metastatic uveal melanoma (mUM).

Research led by scientists at UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center found that responses to a type of immunotherapy called PD-1 checkpoint blockade in patients with advanced melanoma depended on whether or not they had previously received another immunotherapy – CTLA-4 blockade – as well as other factors.

Researchers have found that responses to PD-1 inhibitor treatment in patients with advanced melanoma may depend on whether they had received previous treatment with CTLA-4 inhibitors, according to a new study published by Campbell et al in Cancer Cell.

We have randomized phase 3 data for pembrolizumab [Keytruda], nivolumab, and…nivolumab plus ipilimumab [Yervoy], so I completely agree that all of these [agents are considered] category 1 treatments by the NCCN [National Comprehensive Cancer Network] because all have shown improvements over single-agent ipilimumab.

Melbourne researchers have discovered how a rogue protein produces ‘Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ cancer cells, which could lead to improved treatments for melanoma and other cancers.

A panel assembled at the American Academy of Dermatology 2023 Annual Meeting encouraged the audience of dermatologists to advocate together for needed changes in payment, access, and practice.

A habitual Mediterranean diet may have a role in improving responses to immune checkpoint blockade as therapy for advanced melanoma, according to findings from a cohort study published in JAMA Oncology.

In the PRIMM study reported in JAMA Oncology, Bolte et al found that consumption of a Mediterranean diet was associated with a high probability of objective response and 12-month progression-free survival among patients receiving immune checkpoint blockade treatment for advanced melanoma.

Transcription factors bind to DNA to help control gene regulation. They help ensure that the right genes are expressed in the right cells at the right time by binding to their target sites quickly and selectively. Just as a person may be drawn to a specific book in a library, a transcription factor is drawn to a specific target in DNA. But what happens when transcription factors pick the wrong target?

Malignant melanoma is a relatively aggressive type of skin cancer. When detected early, it is usually treatable by surgical resection only, but metastases develop often spreading to distant areas.

During a Targeted Oncology™ Case-Based Roundtable™ event, Anna C. Pavlick, DO, MSc, MBA, BSN, discussed first-line therapy for a patient with metastatic melanoma.

For patients with advanced, resectable melanoma, treatment with pembrolizumab before as well as after surgery led to improved outcomes — without additional toxicity.

Telehealth has become a routine part of U.S. healthcare, but it seems particularly well suited for dermatology. With relative ease, people can use their phones to take a picture or a short video of a troubling rash or spot and send it to dermatology practice. Real-time consults are also relatively easy.

Genomics increased accuracy in distinguishing between lesion types.

Nivolumab (Opdivo) plus relatlimab (Opdualag) produced a manageable safety profile and long-lasting clinical activity in patients with advanced melanoma that has progressed following prior treatment with anti–PD-L1 regimens, according to findings from the phase 1/2a RELATIVITY-047 trial (NCT01968109).

In a recent retrospective multi-institutional cohort study1, researchers found that the presence of cutaneous immune-related adverse events (cirAEs) was associated with better survival among patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy.

The well-established link between excessive ultraviolet (UV) radiation, whether from natural sunlight or from indoor tanning machines, and the development of all types of skin cancer is nothing new to dermatologists. However, a recent study1 clearly shows that the association between the use of tanning machines and the development of multiple primary melanomas is alarmingly high, with or without familial predisposition.

A retrospective cohort demonstrated that patients who are treated with antibiotics within 1 year before immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy may experience worse overall survival.

CCelina McHugh passed one biannual screening after another following the removal of a melanoma from her leg in 2001, but her luck ran out after 13 years. In a cruel coincidence, she first felt the lump in her groin hours before another scheduled screening.

Researchers investigated how gut bacteria influence the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment in mice.

Personalized circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) monitoring can predict outcomes during and after treatment in patients with advanced melanoma, according to research published in Cancer.

Positive BRAF V600E expression is significantly associated with nonrecurrent disease and better survival in patients with superficial spreading melanomas (SSMs), according to study results published in Dermatology.

The concept of pediatric melanoma has evolved in the last 3 decades, one expert told HCPLive. In the early 1990s, every lesion that was possibly melanoma in a child was treated as such, Alberto Pappo, MD, explained.

NEW ORLEANS — Among Asian American and Pacific Islander subgroups, Southeast Asians had higher rates of metastatic and acral lentiginous melanoma and higher rates of ulceration, according to a presentation here.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands and SAN DIEGO, March 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — SkylineDx, an innovative diagnostics company, focused on research & development of molecular diagnostics for oncology and inflammatory diseases, today announced the publication of an independent study showing that gene expression profiling (CP-GEP model) can be used to identify primary cutaneous melanoma patients with a high risk for disease recurrence.

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The following is a summary of “Timing and necessity of staging imaging in clinical stage II cutaneous melanoma: Cost-effectiveness and clinical decision analysis,” published in the JANUARY 2023 issue of Surgery by Khan, et al.

Fewer cases of melanoma were observed in people with a history of atopic diseases, such as allergic asthma or rhinitis, than in nonatopic people. The risk of melanoma in people with atopy was up to 50% lower than in the control group.

A gene signature for ribosomal protein large/small subunits (RPL/RPS) has been linked to circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that cause brain metastasis in melanoma, the most aggressive and lethal skin cancer.

Anna C. Pavlick, DO, professor of medicine, the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine, founding director, the Cutaneous Oncology Program, Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian, discusses the phase 2 IGNYTE trial (NCT03767348) examining vusolimogene oderparepvec (RP1), an oncolytic vaccine based on a proprietary new strain of herpes simplex virus, in combination with nivolumab (Opdivo) in 3 tumor-specific cohorts, including 1 featuring patients with anti–PD-1–failed cutaneous melanoma.

The following is a summary of “Lentigo maligna melanoma mapping using reflectance confocal microscopy correlates with staged excision: A prospective study,” published in the FEBRUARY 2023 issue of Dermatology by Dechent, et al.

A new study suggests that antibiotics may reduce the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in older patients with cancer, but this depends on the type of cancer, antibiotic, and ICI in question.

Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio melanoma expert Monte Shaheen, MD, was part of a team of investigators that conducted a phase II clinical trial funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to determine the efficacy and safety of administering the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab before and after surgery in high-risk melanoma patients.

More than 90% of blue nevi in adult patients are stable in size after a median of 4.5 years, according to study findings published in Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

As reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Paolo Antonio Ascierto, MD, and colleagues, the phase I/IIa RELATIVITY-020 trial part D has shown evidence of activity of the combination of nivolumab and relatlimab in patients with advanced melanoma progressing on anti–PD-1/PD-L1 therapy.

BioNTech chief strategy officer Ryan Richardson highlighted the differences between his company’s cancer vaccine and another under development by Moderna and Merck, as the companies race each other for a piece of what could be a major new class of products.

The role of the human microbiota has recently been a focus of research interest in numerous cutaneous diseases including psoriasis and atopic dermatitis as well as skin cancer.

The increasing rate of melanoma diagnosis in the United States may not be due to actual disease, but possibly it is due to overdiagnosis of patients with an actual very low risk of death, authors of a new study posit.

Scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report that the difference between people who do and do not respond to immunotherapy may have to do with CD5+ dendritic cells because they bear the protein CD5 on their outer surfaces.

Australian research into new biomarkers to detect skin cancer has been welcomed by the Australasian College of Dermatologists, but the shortage of dermatologists means some early skin cancer diagnosis work is currently falling to general practitioners.

The PASS (polychromy, asymmetry, specific structures) algorithm for dermoscopy had good diagnostic accuracy and was easier to perform than other dermoscopic algorithms, according to the results of a multicenter retrospective analysis published in the International Journal of Dermatology.

In 2022, approximately 3.3 million individuals in the United States received a diagnosis of melanoma, according to Scott Soefje, PharmD, MBA, BCOP, FCCP, FHOPA, director of pharmacy cancer care services and an assistant professor at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Furthermore, basal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer, with approximately 80% of patients with skin cancer receiving this diagnosis, and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common.

Jason Luke, MD, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology and the director of the Cancer Immunotherapeutics Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Hillman Cancer Center, discussed the role played by the combination of nivolumab plus relatlimab (Opdualag) in patients with advanced melanoma.

New research shows that using a chemical blocker stops CD8+ T cells from migrating out of skin cancer cells. Together with immunotherapy, the combination stopped melanoma tumor growth in half of treated mice, representing a potential new approach for boosting the efficacy of immunotherapy.

The following is a summary of “Prognostic role of microsatellites in melanoma and implications in the American Joint Committee on Cancer classification system: A cohort study,” published in the FEBRUARY 2023 issue of Dermatology by Loughlin, et al.

Anna C. Pavlick, DO, professor of medicine, the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, Weill Cornell Medicine, founding director, the Cutaneous Oncology Program, Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian, discusses how ongoing research efforts at Weill Cornell Medicine are attempting to ameliorate unmet needs in melanoma.

Fewer cases of melanoma were observed in people with a history of atopic diseases, such as allergic asthma or rhinitis, than in nonatopic people. The risk of melanoma in people with atopy was up to 50% lower than in the control group. I

Although immunotherapies have been a game-changer in cancer treatment, they do not work for all patients.

Researchers at The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), London are reporting that cancer cells have the ability to change their size to adapt to various challenges in their environment, including drug treatment.

Cytovation ASA, a Norwegian clinical stage immune-oncology company focused on the development of CyPep-1, its first-in-class targeted tumor membrane immunotherapy, announces that the first patient has been dosed in its phase 2a study.

Immunotherapy has transformed cancer care. In advanced melanoma, for example, the most fatal form of skin cancer, the five-year survival rate has risen from less than 10% to more than 50% since immunotherapy was introduced in 2011. Still, only about half of melanoma patients respond to immunotherapy, and those who do not respond face a difficult future.

Looking at his career, it might seem like Hussein Tawbi, M.D., Ph.D., was destined to become one of the founding leaders of MD Anderson’s Andrew M. McDougall Brain Metastasis Clinic and Research Program. Each decision he made and each new role he took prepared him in a different way for his current work.

A new study conducted in Finland has discovered a new medication that could offer a new treatment option for patients with advanced melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer.

Hussein Tawbi, MD, PhD: We’ve made a lot of progress and metastatic melanoma, and again, we feel bold enough to speak of cures and being able to help our patients with long-term outcomes, but there remains a lot of unanswered questions and unmet need in these populations. Well, first is now that we have newer combinations that are less toxic like nivolumab and relatlimab, we still don’t know the activity of that combination, for instance, in brain metastases, and whether we can help those patients with less toxicity.

People who regularly take vitamin D supplements may have a lower likelihood of developing melanoma, according to study results published in Melanoma Research.

Avero Diagnostics has launched AMBLor, a first-of-its-kind laboratory test for the identification of early-stage melanoma at low risk of progression. The company developed the test after licensing the underpinning technology from AMLo Biosciences in September 2022.

Survival outcomes among adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with advanced melanoma were much worse than in older adults. These findings from a population-based study were published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Melanoma rates are on the rise across the US, according to David Goldberg, MD, JD, medical director of Skin Laser and Surgery Specialists of New York and New Jersey; director of cosmetic dermatology and clinical research at Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York, New York; conference chair of South Beach Symposium (SBS) 2023, and a Dermatology Times® Editorial Advisory Board member. Goldberg discusses the increased rates of melanoma and risk factors associated with cutaneous melanoma during his session “Advances in Melanoma" at SBS 2023.

The following is a summary of “Prognostic impact of Breslow thickness in acral melanoma: A retrospective analysis,” published in the December 2022 issue of Dermatology by Wei, et al.

Moffitt Cancer Center researchers say they have identified a novel approach to increase the numbers and antitumor activities of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs).

Bartosz Chmielowski, MD, health sciences clinical professor of medicine, the Division of Hematology-Oncology, Sarcoma and Connective Tissue Medical Oncology, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Health, discusses the potential role of vusolimogene oderparepvec (RP1) in the treatment of patients with melanoma who failed prior treatment with an anti–PD-1 therapy.

Metastases occur when cancer cells leave a primary tumor and spread throughout the body. For this, they have to break connections with neighboring cells and migrate to other tissues

Cancer cells can shrink or super-size themselves to survive drug treatment or other challenges within their environment, researchers have discovered.

Childhood cancer survivors who were treated with radiation are at a 30-fold increased risk for developing basal cell carcinoma and a 2.5- to 5-fold increased risk for developing melanoma 2 decades after treatment exposure.

Certain skin cancer cells may differ in how they respond to various treatments according to their size. Better understanding this and how it relates to treatment outcomes could help doctors predict an individual’s drug response.

Newswise — A new clinical and preclinical study from UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center identifies the DNA roots of resistance to targeted cancer therapy, providing a possible strategy to address a vexing issue in cancer therapeutics. Results are published online ahead of print in Cancer Discovery, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Elevated levels of immune cells, called neutrophils, in tumors have been associated with poor outcomes in people with cancer.

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in oncology trials are similar whether the trials have open-label or blinded designs, according to research published in JNCI Cancer Spectrum.

Newswise — New biomarkers to improve skin cancer detection and avoid delays in treatment are being developed by researchers at the University of South Australia.

Findings from an international research study involving Irish and Spanish patients reveal a candidate drug and biomarker that could be used to manage uveal melanoma.

Functional surgery may be an attractive option in patients with nail unit melanoma who have a Breslow thickness less than 0.8 mm, according to a study.

Media outlets have reported the encouraging findings of clinical trials for a new experimental vaccine developed by the biotech company Moderna to treat an aggressive type of skin cancer called melanoma.

The following represents disclosure information provided by the author of this manuscript. All relationships are considered compensated unless otherwise noted.

Despite more frequent poor prognostic factors, melanoma of unknown primary etiology was not associated with poorer survival than melanoma of known cutaneous etiology, according to a study.

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Immunotherapies have improved outcomes of many patients with cancer, including melanoma. But these therapies work for only a subset of patients.

A phase 2 study will investigate the efficacy of darovasertib for patients with uveal melanoma and whether the drug can potentially result in lower radiation doses or fewer eye removal surgeries.

“Medical Journeys" is a set of clinical resources reviewed by physicians, meant for the medical team as well as the patients they serve. Each episode of this 12-part journey through a disease state contains both a physician guide and a downloadable/printable patient resource.

Claire F. Verschraegen, MD, professor of Medicine, director of the Division of Medical Oncology, the Ohio State University College of Medicine, Diane Nye and Michael Rayden chair in Innovative Cancer Research, director for translational research, the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC)–James, discusses the need for predictive biomarkers for the use of immunotherapy in the treatment of melanoma.

The following is a summary of “Clinical Outcomes and Risk Stratification of Early-Stage Melanoma Micrometastases From an International Multicenter Study: Implications for the Management of American Joint Committee on Cancer IIIA Disease” published in the December 2022 issue of Oncology by Moncrieff et al.

Melanoma survival rates in children and adolescent patients were around 90% or higher, according to a study.

Carlo Contreras, MD, a surgical oncologist for Skin and Soft Tissue Cancers, a member of the Translational Therapeutics Program, medical director of Ambulatory Services at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC)–James, and an associate professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology at The Ohio State University, discusses the role of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with desmoplastic melanoma.

A team of scientists from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine has found the missing puzzle piece in the mystery of how melanoma tumors control their mortality.

Fewer cases of melanoma were observed among regular users of vitamin D supplements than among non-users, a new study finds.

Dr Jeffrey Weber discusses potential new approaches to managing melanoma patients who progress after anti-PD-1 agents.

Sapna Patel, BA, MD, a medical oncologist, an associate professor, and the director of the Uveal Melanoma Program and Melanoma Fellowship Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the sequencing of immunotherapy and targeted therapy in BRAF-mutant melanoma.

The study, published today in Nature Cell Biology, modelled the behaviour of aggressive melanoma cells that are able to change the shape of their nucleus to overcome the physical constraints that cancer cells encounter when they migrate through tissues.

The following is a summary of “Delays in the surgical treatment of melanoma are associated with worsened overall and melanoma-specific mortality: A population-based analysis,” published in October, 2022 issue of Dermatology by Xiong, et al.

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School have developed machine learning-based methods to predict which patients with early-stage melanoma have the highest risk for disease recurrence.

A new research paper titled “Impact of COVID-19 on the management of patients with metastatic melanoma" has been published in Oncotarget.

There’s a revolution unfolding in cancer therapeutics as researchers learn to harness the immune system to fight even the most stubborn tumors.

KOLOA, Hawaii — In this Healio Video Perspective from Hawaiian Eye 2023, Jesse L. Berry, MD, discusses dark pigmented lesions in the tissues of the eye.

Authors of an economic evaluation of patients with advanced melanoma have concluded that response-adapted discontinuation of ipilimumab after 6 weeks is cost-effective and may lower the patient’s financial burden. Cost savings were estimated at $19,891 per patient compared with standard of care, according to findings from the study published in JAMA Dermatology.

Several novel treatment regimens for melanoma/skin cancer emerged during the past year.

Successful melanoma treatment decisions and sequencing are increasingly being guided by individual patient needs and comorbidities, although first-line immunotherapy, be it a combination or single agent, presents clear anticancer benefits, according to Claire F. Verschraegen, MD.

Skin cancer cells use Alzheimer’s protein to sabotage brain’s immune defences

The survival benefit displayed with the administration of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) prior to and after resection in the phase 2 SWOG S1801 trial (NCT03698019) showed that the addition of immunotherapy prior to surgery represents a practice-changing option for patients with high-risk melanoma, according to Anna Pavlick, DO, MBA, who added that data also continue to point to immunotherapy as the optimal frontline treatment for those in the metastatic setting.

The common terminology criteria for adverse events (CATCAE) is a helpful tool for nurses when managing adverse events (AEs) in the treatment of melanoma with immunotherapies and targeted therapies, according to Caressa Valdueza, MSN, AGNP-BC, AOCNP.

A phase 2b trial of pembrolizumab plus a personalized mRNA vaccine resulted in improved recurrence-free survival in patients with resected high-risk melanoma, the first successful randomized trial of its kind.

From eye removal to radiation damage, patients with uveal melanoma may face complications after treatment, although continued and new therapies may address these issues, an expert said.

A new ‘personalised’ mRNA cancer vaccine in combination with pembrolizumab (sold as Keytruda) significantly improves recurrence-free survival from melanoma, Moderna and Merck have announced.

The human body is best at fighting cancer early in the morning, a discovery that could lead to more effective treatments, scientists believe.

Risk for developing a subsequent primary melanoma was associated with presence of many nevi, according to results of a population-based prospective cohort study, published in JAMA Dermatology.

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy may increase the risk for major atherosclerotic cardiovascular events in patient with high-risk or advanced melanoma, study data published in Cardio-Oncology indicates.

APRNs developed a discharge program which reduced readmission rates for patients receiving immunotherapy for advanced melanoma.

Clinical trials demand extreme rigor. A mistake in trial design, like a bookkeeping error, can lead regulators to reject a potentially valuable drug. Many researchers dislike this intense focus on dotting i’s and crossing t’s. Omid Hamid, MD, enjoys the challenge.

Dermatologists should consider ordering a 31-gene expression profile test to determine metastasis risk in patients with newly diagnosed cutaneous malignant melanoma, according to a study.

Marc S. Ernstoff, MD, branch chief for the ImmunoOncology branch, Developmental Therapeutics Program, Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, at the National Cancer Institute, discusses metastatic melanoma and how patients may be managed.

BRAF mutations were addressed in depth this year on AJMC.com’s skin cancer page, having been mentioned in 3 of this year’s top 5 articles. Also discussed were a first-in-its-class combination treatment approval and potential indicators of increased skin cancer risk.

Richard D. Carvajal, MD, discusses the implications of the FDA approval of tebentafusp in uveal melanoma, the possibility of exploring tebentafusp in other HLA subtypes, and other areas of intriguing research in uveal melanoma.

A combination of vusolimogene oderparepvec and nivolumab elicited early clinical activity in patients with cutaneous melanoma whose disease did not response to anti-PD-1 therapy.

Although triplet therapy may be effective and tolerable for patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma, each patient’s case should be considered before deciding if it is the right course of treatment, according to an expert.

The introduction of new melanoma treatments coincided with a reduction in the melanoma mortality rate (MMR) in the United States, according to a study published online Dec. 6 in JAMA Network Open.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy was effective as a prognostic and staging tool in stage IIB/C melanoma, according to a study.

Second primary melanomas are more likely to develop in patients with more nevi and a high genetic predisposition to melanoma, according to a study.

The FDA granted de novo classification to the SeCore CDx HLA Sequencing System for use as a companion diagnostic with Kimmtrak for metastatic or unresectable uveal melanoma, according to a Thermo Fisher Scientific press release.

New research suggests new pharmacological therapies are associated with a decrease in melanoma-related deaths.

Claire F. Verschraegen, MD, professor of Medicine, director of the Division of Medical Oncology, the Ohio State University College of Medicine, Diane Nye and Michael Rayden chair in Innovative Cancer Research, director for translational research, the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC)– James, discusses the need to improve the management of treatment-related adverse effects (TRAEs) of immunotherapy in melanoma.

Resection of choroidal tumors is a treatment option but it is technically challenging and more challenging than removing tumors in the iris and ciliary body because the choroid is less accessible.

Precision medicine may help improve the diagnosis and management of this aggressive skin cancer.

The presence of microsatellites was associated with poorer overall survival in a retrospective cohort of patients with cutaneous melanoma, according to a study.

Duke Cancer Institute researchers have identified potential biomarkers that predict the likelihood for checkpoint inhibitor drugs to backfire, driving hyper-progression of melanoma cells instead of unleashing the immune system to fight them.

Increasing rates of melanoma diagnosis in recent years may be due to overdiagnosis of the skin cancer in patients with a very low risk of death and stage 1 lesions that are 1 mm or smaller, according to recent study findings in Cancer.

People with a greater number of moles and a genetic predisposition to melanoma are at the highest risk of developing a second primary melanoma, according to a new study.

Malignant cutaneous melanoma outcomes were investigated as they relate to diagnosis delay and potential influence from socioeconomic and demographic factors in Brazil, where skin cancer diagnoses represent 30% of all cancer diagnoses.

Australians are being warned to remain sun safe this summer as new data reveals the top melanoma hotspots in New South Wales.

Scientists using cancer registry data identified a subset of patients with early-stage melanoma with almost no melanoma-related deaths. The study “Prognostic modeling of cutaneous melanoma stage I patients using cancer registry data identifies subsets with very low melanoma mortality,” published in Cancer, may help clinicians determine which patients have a low risk of death from melanoma after removal of the growth, according to the researchers.

Immunotherapy followed by targeted therapy has emerged as the new standard of care for patients with melanoma with BRAF V600 mutations, according to Andrew L. Pecora, MD, FACP, CPE, who explained that patients tend to live longer when receiving ipilimumab (Yervoy) plus nivolumab (Opdizvo) before receiving dabrafenib (Tafinlar) plus trametinib (Mekinist).

A series of experimental studies by UK researchers has shown that miniature spherical particles called protocells loaded with a cargo that inhibits microRNA-223 (miR223) can alter interactions between immune cells and cancer cells and ultimately reduce tumor burden.

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered the missing puzzle piece in the mystery of how melanoma tumors control their mortality.

Increasing rates of melanoma diagnosis in recent years may be due to overdiagnosis of the skin cancer in patients with a very low risk of death and stage 1 lesions that are 1 mm or smaller, according to recent study findings in Cancer.

The combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) have shown overall survival (OS) benefit in patients with metastatic melanoma, according to long-term follow-up data, and other studies’ results highlight the efficacy and toxicity benefits of different sequences of the combination, Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, said during a presentation at the 40th Annual CFS®.

For a cell to become cancerous, it must cross the threshold of immortality—that is, it must transform into an infinitely dividing machine. Many cells like those in the skin cancer melanoma are thought to be immortalized due to mutations in the gene TERT. But scientists have puzzled over why the same TERT mutations seen in patients aren’t enough to immortalize cells in a test tube.

Research published in CANCER has found evidence that some cases of melanoma are much less likely to cause death, with one subset of patients – comprising a quarter of the study’s 11,592 participants – found to have a less than 1% risk of dying.

Response-adapted therapy in melanoma, which involves removal of certain immunotherapeutic agents in a combination, can reduce costs without a decrease in efficacy, according to a study.

A defining characteristic of cancer cells is their immortality. Usually, normal cells are limited in the number of times they can divide before they stop growing. Cancer cells, however, can overcome this limitation to form tumors and bypass “mortality” by continuing to replicate.

Different sequencing strategies may help improve outcomes and mitigate toxicities for patients with metastatic melanoma, according to Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD.

It may appear counter-intuitive but overcoming death is a key step in the journey of a cell toward cancer.

A team of scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital has developed a new tool that uses artificial intelligence to predict which patients are most likely to experience a recurrence of melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer.

Fecal microbiome transplant (FMT) produced mixed results for stimulating response to immunotherapy in advanced melanoma, according to two preliminary studies.

The combination of sotigalimab (APX005M) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) showed encouraging antitumor activity and was well tolerated in the frontline setting of patients with metastatic melanoma, according to updated phase 1/2 findings presented during the 2022 SITC Annual Meeting.

In an interview with Targeted Oncology, Ryan J. Sullivan, MD, discussed the history of tumor infiltrating lymphocyte therapy, how new data may lead to approved agents in the future, and other ways tumor infiltrating lymphocytes may be used in advanced melanoma.

Fecal microbiota transplant from healthy donors may lower primary resistance to immunotherapy with anti-PD-1 agents among patients with advanced or metastatic melanoma, results of the phase 1 MIMic trial showed.

The sequence of surgery and immunotherapy affects outcomes for patients with melanoma, according to a speaker at Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium.

LANSING – Residents of Michigan’s rural counties are much more likely to get melanoma – skin cancer – than urban residents in the state, a new study has found.

Dermoscopy is a valuable tool in differentiating regular pigmented lesions from dangerous skin cancers. At SDPA 2022, Orit Markowitz, MD, summarizes skin of color dermoscopy.

A poster presentation from the 2022 SDPA Conference reviewed an elastic-scattering spectroscopy device for melanoma detection.

A cancer diagnosis is never good news, but Paul McKinney knows that his stage III melanoma diagnosis at least came at a “good” time in terms of progress in treating the disease

When Nancy Schroeder found out her melanoma had spread to her lymph nodes four years after she’d had surgery from a local dermatologist near her home in Florida, she knew she needed to go to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to benefit from the latest research and newest therapies.

Advocacy groups helped one patient with ocular melanoma — and many others — learn more about their disease and treatment, as well as a place to connect about their experiences.

Scientists hope the venom of an Australian octopus could slow cancer growth and help drug-resistant patients fight one of the most serious forms of melanoma.