New Insights into Melanoma Brain Metastases
Source: Columbia, July 2022
Brain metastasis is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths and occurs very frequently in patients with advanced melanoma. Although new immunotherapies are effective in some patients with melanoma brain metastases, little is known about the reasons for melanoma’s spread to the brain and the lower response rates to many therapies.
Columbia researchers have now completed one of the most comprehensive studies of the cells inside melanoma brain metastases, uncovering details that could spur the development of a new generation of therapies.
“Brain metastases are extremely common in patients with melanoma, but we have only had a rudimentary understanding of the underlying biology,” says study leader Benjamin Izar, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. “Our study gives us new insights into the genomics, immunology, and spatial organization of these tumors and serves as a foundation for further discovery and therapeutic exploration.”