Advancements in biopsy techniques, as well as several recently approved new therapeutic agents, have made a significant difference in outcomes for patients with melanoma of the head and neck, says Carol Rossier Bradford, MD, a head and neck surgeon and professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Michigan Health System.
Publications
Aging impacts therapeutic response of melanoma cells
Cancer risk increases with one’s age as accumulated damage to our cells and chronic inflammation occur over time. Now, an international team of scientists led by The Wistar Institute have shown that aged tumor cells in melanoma behave differently than younger tumor cells, according to study results published in the journal Nature.
Multiple Gene Mutations Predict Recurrence in Malignant Melanoma and Clinical Outcomes, Study Suggests
In a new study, researchers investigated whether molecular profiling could predict clinical outcomes, and found that patients with primary malignant melanoma are at a higher risk of recurrent disease if they present mutations in two or more cancer-related genes. The study’s results were recently presented at the 2016 HemOnc Today Melanoma and Cutaneous Malignancies meeting.
Lower Vitamin D Levels Linked to Poorer Melanoma Outcomes
Lower vitamin D levels were associated with poorer overall survival, melanoma-specific survival, and disease-free survival independent of a strong association between lower vitamin D and higher C-reactive protein, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology has shown.1