Spot On: Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Novel Discoveries and Treatments Advance Melanoma Care
Source: Miller School of Medicine, May 2025
Doctors and researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, part of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, are making encouraging inroads in the treatment of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. As the nation pays homage to Melanoma Awareness Month in May, the pioneering work at Sylvester is bringing hope to patients at a time when melanoma cases are on the rise, with the American Cancer Society estimating 104,960 new cases of melanoma and 8,430 deaths this year alone.
In the lab, Sylvester researcher Barbara Bedogni, Ph.D., associate professor in the Dr. Phillip Frost Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery, and her team developed a novel, neutralizing antibody that shows promise for improving immunotherapy response to melanoma treatment.
Meanwhile, in the clinic, melanoma expert Jose Lutzky, M.D., director of Cutaneous Oncology Services and Cutaneous and Ocular Oncology Site Disease Group lead at Sylvester, is leading a team of doctors running some 15 clinical trials and treating about 550 patients annually.