Hensin Tsao, MD, PhD: TIL Therapy and Neoadjuvant Treatment for Pigmented Lesions
Source: Dermatology Times, September 2024
In this Maui Derm NP+PA Fall session, Tsao discusses the growing trend of TIL therapy and neoadjuvant treatment for pigmented lesions, as well as atypical clinical presentation.
It’s an exciting time for dermatology providers caring for patients with melanoma, according to Hensin Tsao, MD, PhD, clinical director of the Melanoma & Pigmented Lesion Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. His presentation at Maui Derm NP+PA Fall 2024, held September 15-18, 2024, in Nashville, Tennessee, focused on TIL therapy for patients who fail to respond to first-line treatments, the rise in popularity for neoadjuvant treatment, atypical clinical presentation of melanoma, and personalized cancer vaccines.
Dermatology Times: Tell us about your session on pigmented lesions presented at Maui Derm NP+PA Fall, and why it’s important to provide this education to an audience of advanced practice providers?
Hensin Tsao, MD, PhD: This session embodies a lot of components of melanoma. We have Dr. Ashfaq Marghoob and Dr. Elena Hawryluk, who are going to join me and talk about the management of melanoma from different perspectives, such as the pediatric dermatologist and pediatric pigmented lesions. I, myself, will tackle the task of melanoma itself, sort of from A to Z. I’m going to look at biopsies. I’m going to look at surgery. And, perhaps the most exciting part of melanoma medicine right now, which is all the treatments that are coming down the pipeline in terms of tackling metastatic melanoma. It’s an incredibly important topic. It’s a topic that’s evolving very rapidly and I think, as dermatology providers, we are obligated to our patients in some way to keep up with what’s going on in the field.