New Melanoma Research
2010
Lentigo maligna melanoma, UV light exposure associated, study finds
A study shows for the first time prospectively that chronic ultraviolet (UV) light exposure raises the risk of lentigo maligna melanoma (LLM), a study co-author says.
September 1, 2010
Giant congenital nevi may pose threat of melanoma
If congenital nevi are small, there is insufficient evidence to suggest they should be removed, for they are not likely to transform into melanoma.
September 1, 2010
Scientists find 'Master Cells' that Cause Skin Cancer
For the first time scientists have identified master cells that give birth to deadly skin cancers. Researchers at Stamford University have found the 'master celss' that are responsible for the growth of malignant melanoma tumors.
July 1, 2010
Key Enzyme in Melanoma Cell Development Found
An enzyme, first discovered in 2003, could play a major role in preventing melanoma, and one day lead to more effective drugs to attack cancers and make them more treatable.
June 17, 2010
Successful Treatment of Melanoma Metastatic to the Left Atrium Using External Beam Radiation Therapy
The results demonstrate that radiation can be very effective, especially when only small volumes of disease to be treated, and adequate total doses are used Therefore radiation therapy appears to play and important yet underutilized role in the treatment of metastatic melanoma.
June 19, 2010
UK Scientists Develop 3D Test for Diagnosing Malignant Melanoma
UK scientists have developed a 3D test for malignant melanoma that can identify problems not easily spotted in a standard 2-dimentional view of the patterns on the skin.
May 14, 2010
Persistence of Melanoma Explained
Scientists at The Wistar Institute offer a new explanation for the persistent ability of melanoma cells to self-renew.
May 14, 2010
Americans Continually Exposed to Carcinogens
In a landmark report issued Thursday, the President's Cancer Panel asserts that public health officials have "grossly underestimated" the likelihood that environmental contaminants trigger a large proportion of the cancers diagnosed in 1.5 million Americans annually.
May 10, 2010
Infrared Device Tested to Detect Melanoma Early
"The problem with diagnosing melanoma in the year 2010 is that we don't have any objective way to diagnose this disease,' said Rhoda Alani..... Cancer cells on the skin emit more heat than healthy tissue, but the difference is very subtle. The researchers at Johns Hopkins first cool the skin with compressed air, then record temperature changes in the suspicious area over two to three minutes. Cancer cells reheat more quickly."
February 28, 2010
New Technology can Help Identify Melanoma Stage with More Accuracy
Researchers at Univ. of Missouri "are studying how photoacoustics, or a laser-induced ultrasound, could help scientists locate the general area of the lymph node where melanoma cells could be residing.... ‘This method can be used to determine if the cancer has spread from stage 2, where the melanoma is still just in the skin lesion, to stage 3, where the melanoma has spread to the lymph nodes....'"
February 24, 2010
Mitf-Mdel, a Novel Melanocyte/Melanoma-Specific Isoform of Microphthalmia-Associated Transcription Factor-M, as a Candidate Biomarker for Melanoma
"MITF-Mdel, a novel melanocyte/melanoma-specific isoform of MITF-M, may serve as a potential candidate biomarker for diagnostic and follow-up purposes in melanoma."
February 17, 2010
Phone App Developing for Early Melanoma Detection
"A mobile phone app allowing individuals to take a picture of a mole, lesion or birthmark on their bodies; send the image to Health Discovery; and immediately receive back on their mobile phone a risk assessment for melanoma and other skin cancers is nearing completion...."
February 16, 2010
NYU to Adopt Kiwi Cancer Technology
NYU "will now have access to 1000's of Kiwi and Australian melanoma case studies for their residents and researchers to examine. The unit, considered one of the top dermatology departments in the world, has adopted the MoleMap (branded ‘MoleSafe' in the US) software and database - regarded as the largest tele-dermatology system with 40 melanoma screening centers globally."
January 30, 2010
Surprising Discovery could Help Scientists Refine Treatment for Advanced Melanoma
"A team of UK scientists has made the unexpected discovery that drugs which target a well known fault in a protein called BRAF could actually fuel the progression of cancer in some cases."
January 21, 2010
How Melanomas Shield Themselves from Immune Attack
Study by Drs. M. Frank and G. Murphy "adds to a growing body of evidence that melanoma stem cells have developed a repertoire of complementary strategies to outsmart host defenses, camouflaging them from the very immune cells and therapeutic agents that seek to destroy them." Doesn't mention that some researchers question existence of such cancer stem cells, particularly for melanoma.
January 13, 2010
How Skin Cells Turn Cancerous in Sunlight
M. Denning et al. of Loyola Univ. focused on squamous cell carcinoma, found on skin areas that "receive lots of sun.... Sunlight can damage a skin cell's DNA. Normally, a protein called protein kinase C (PKC) is activated in response to the damage. If the damage is too great to repair, the PKC protein directs the cell to die. Healthy cells grow and divide in a cell-division cycle. At several checkpoints in this cycle, the cell stops to repair damaged DNA before progressing to the next step in the cycle."
January 16, 2010
2009
Quest for New Anti-Tumour Prognostic and Pharmaceutical Markers for Melanoma Patients
"The constant increase in the rate of cutaneous melanoma over recent years and its resistance to anti-tumour pharmaceutical drugs has meant that the study of cutaneous melanoma is one of the greatest scientific challenges in the field of cancer." General research interests of The Human Melanoma research team at the University of the Basque Country.
December 3, 2009
Protein Markers Predict Risk of Melanoma Recurrence
Dr. D. L. Rimm et al. of Yale develop a "new prognostic tool that can
determine the risk of recurrence in melanoma patients.... The technology, based on five proteins expressed in melanoma tissue, can classify patients into a low-risk group, with 10% chance of recurrence at eight years, or a high-risk group that has a 40% probability...." Technology is the AQUATM system.
December 3, 2009
Scientist Report Major Breakthrough in Skin Implant Treatment to Fight Cancer
Harvard study of melanoma in mice. "'Inserted anywhere under the skin ... the implants activate an immune response that destroys tumor cells,' shared Bioengineer Professor David Mooney..... The ... implants are disks made of a plastic which is biodegradable...."
November 28, 2009
Myriad Reports Encouraging Results from Phase II Melanoma Trial
Phase IIa "study of Azixa, a microtubule destabilizing agent in stage IV melanoma patients."
November 19, 2009
In Melanoma, Sentinel Node Antigens and Biomarkers Predict Outcomes
Dr. D. Vitoux et al. of Saint-Louis hospital in Paris show that in "melanoma patients with micrometastases in their sentinel lymph nodes, melanocytic differentiation antigens and angiogenesis biomarkers in these nodes have prognostic value," particularly for stage 3A.
November 20, 2009
VIDEO: Laser Therapy Worsens Skin Cancer
Above study, in plainer English. "Researchers injected mice with melanoma cancer cells and applied cold laser therapy. They found that the laser therapy aggravated the skin cancer and increased the growth of the melanoma tumor."
November 19, 2009
Major Advances in Clinical Cancer Research in 2009: A Report From ASCO
(1) "Melanoma incidence rising in the United States. The incidence has risen sharply and cannot be attributed to increased screening alone." (Linos E et al. J Invest Derm. 2009)
(2) "Vaccine effective in melanoma. The experimental therapeutic vaccine contains part of the gp100 protein, an antigen found on melanoma cells but not on healthy cells, and stimulates T-cells to attack melanoma cells." (Schwartzentruber DJ et al ASCO 2009)
(3) "Novel drug PLX4032 effective in melanoma with BRAF mutations. The drug is an oral inhibitor of BRAF kinase, and the data come from a small phase 1 study." (Flaherty K et al. ASCO 2009).
November 17, 2009
Scientists Find 'Sibling' Cancer Genes Work Together to Fight Skin Cancer
Scientists from Cancer Research UK discovered “that BRAF, which is linked to around 70 per cent of melanomas and seven per cent of all cancers, is in fact controlled by a gene from the same RAF family called CRAF - which has also been linked to the disease….”
November 16, 2009
BioVex Completes $70 Million Financing to Conclude Pivotal Study with Its Pioneering Cancer Treatment, OncoVEX (GM-CSF)
"The proceeds of the financing will primarily be used to complete the ongoing Phase III pivotal study of OncoVEX (GM-CSF) for the treatment of recurrent and metastatic melanoma...."
November 10, 2009
PharmaGap Reports that GAP-107B8 Showed Strong and Consistent Anti-Cancer Activity in a Wide Range of Cancers in NCI [U.S. National Cancer Institute in Bethesda] Test
"GAP-107B8 is a novel peptide protein kinase inhibitor that was designed to specifically target molecular signaling pathways in cancer cells.... [T]he Company will be focusing its immediate development program on ovarian cancer and melanoma."
October 27, 2009
Myriad Pharmaceuticals' Azixa is Efficacious in a Model of Human Brain Cancer and Its Activity is Additive With Avastin
Also, "Azixa is currently in two phase 2 studies for the treatment of primary brain tumors and one phase 2 trial for the treatment of metastatic melanoma."
October 26, 2009
Sensitizing Tumor Response to Cancer Therapy
To improve performance of dacarbazine, the drug for melanoma, nutritional scientists at Univ. of Arizona have been "testing the drug and its new analog Temozolomide in combination with various bioactive compounds to gain greater response rates on melanoma tumors in cell cultures." Article mentions quercetin, "a polyphenol found in apples, onions, green tea...."
July 28, 2009
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Study Finds Genetic Variants Linked to the Transformation of Nevi to Melanoma
"[A] recent genome-wide association study ... provides the first evidence on the association of genetic variants at 9p21 and 22q13 with the nevus count and also with melanoma susceptibility."
July 22, 2009
New DNA Vaccine Inhibits Deadly Skin Cancer in Mice
Researchers from China and U.S. show how a new "DNA vaccine inhibited malignant melanoma ... in mice by eliciting antibodies that target a gastrin-releasing peptide which is known to play a key role in cancer development.... " J. Fang et al. in Clin. and Vaccine Immunology, 16.
July 21, 2009
Skin Cancer Researchers Throw New Light on Tumour Growth
Dr. S. N. Byrne et al. of Sydney Medical School in 2008 showed "that skin tumours escaping the immune system do so by secreting a compound called transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta."
July 14, 2009
Sun Warnings ‘Overstated' as Science Finds New Clue to Skin Cancer
Article quotes from some researchers on GenoMEL team. States that "the number of moles on your skin is the most important factor in the risk of getting melanoma." The quotes in this article differ from those last week. Usually illnesses involve interaction of genes and environment. Now all emphasis seems to be on genetic inheritance, not DNA changes in somatic cells due to environment. Not clear how their research, which suggests moles are inherited, would be relevant for explaining the rise in melanoma. Genetic mutations in gamete cells do not seem to occur at the rates implied.
July 11, 2009
Procedure Re-Grows Skin Removed by Cancer Surgery
"Skin cancer of the face can be particularly damaging; and when the cells are removed, a defect or scar tends to be left on the affected area. But a newly-developed procedure can actually re-grow a patient's skin to make the spots affected by skin cancer less-noticeable."
July 10, 2009
The GenoMEL Project Identifies a New Region of the Genome Associated with the Risk of Melanoma
"The statistical studies identified three regions in the genome with variations that represent a risk of developing melanoma. Two of these regions form part of the genes TYR and MCR1, associated with skin pigmentation and sensitivity to sunlight; they had already been identified in previous studies as risk factors. The third region is on chromosome 9 and represents a new risk factor that needs to be studied...."
July 6, 2009
Moles and Melanoma: Genetic Links to Skin Cancer Found
"Professors J. Newton Bishop and T. Bishop of the Melanoma Genetics Consortium (GenoMEL) at the University of Leeds looked at more than 10,000 people, comparing those who have been diagnosed with melanoma to those who do not have the disease.... The research shows that there are at least five genes which influence the risk of melanoma. A person carrying all the variants associated with an increased risk is around eight times more likely to develop melanoma than those carrying none, though the majority of people carry at least one of these variants."
July 5, 2009
Novel Epigenetic Markers of Melanoma May Herald New Treatments for Patients
Epigenetic changes involve alterations to" the chemical modifications of DNA that regulate genes." Frequent in cancer. Drs. R. Halaban and S. Weissman of Yale studied DNA methylation in melanoma. Found "76 promoters with altered methylation patterns in melanomas.... [C]onsistentwith other research indicating that cancer cells are using DNA methylation to turn off genes that normally inhibit malignancy."
June 30, 2009
Drug May Prolong Survival in Melanoma Patients
Dr. L. Spitler et al. of The Northern California Melanoma Center showed that "patients who received GM-CSF (Sargramostim, trade name Leukine) may experience prolonged survival." Patients in study had been diagnosed "clinically free of melanoma after surgery but were at high risk of recurrence." In the J. of Immunotherapy.
June 23, 2009
UNMC Research Finds Key to Progression of Deadly Skin Cancer
Drs. S. and R. Singh et al. at Univ. of Nebraska "investigated the roles of a superfamily of small molecules called 'chemokines' and their receptor 'partner molecules' in melanoma development.... Their results suggested that CXCR1 and CXCR2 [molecules in melanoma cells] play key roles in the progression and spread of melanoma." Mouse study.
May 13, 2009
UAMS [University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences] Awarded NCI Grant for Cancer Research
NCI granted $1.5 million for Dr. V. Zharov to study "a concept of nanomedicine designed to help provide for earlier detection of aggressive melanoma that progresses to incurable metastasis at an early stage."
May 18, 2009
Metastatic Melanoma Therapies in Pipeline
A note hoping that advances in the molecular biology of melanoma will allow new drugs targeting a "specific defect causing cells to go awry." Also says clinical trials are "under way for an adjuvant Stage III or IV melanoma treatment -- the MAGE-A or melanoma antigen -- family A vaccine.... 60 percent to 70 percent of melanoma patients express the MAGE antigen...."
May 11, 2009
Melanoma Vaccine Still in the Works at UVA [Univ. of Virginia] Medical Center
Dr. C. Slingluff "and his team of cancer researchers have been working for years to develop a vaccine made up of melanoma cells that can't replicate in the body." Experimental.
May 10, 2009
Melanoma-Suppressing Gene Enzyme Identified
NIH study, which found that the often mutated genes "that code for matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) enzymes, MMP-8, actually serve as a tumor suppressor gene, but not an oncogene, as was previously thought."
May 5, 2009
International Melanoma Tissue Bank in the Works
AIM at Melanoma, from merger of the Charlie Guild Melanoma Foundation and the James A. Schlipmann Melanoma Cancer Foundation, has special long-term goal: an international melanoma tissue bank, based on a consortium of institutions from several countries. Article describes collaboration of AIM at Melanoma with Dr. J. M. Kirkwood of University of Pittsburgh and unique problems of developing a tumor tissue bank for researchers in melanoma.
April 23, 2009
People Who Never Sunburn May Still Get Melanoma
P. Kanetsky et al. at the Univ. of Pennsylvania found that the "presence of certain variants in the MC1R gene was linked with at least a twofold increased risk of melanoma and was largely confined to those people who would not normally be considered at increased risk."
April 21, 2009
Health and Science News. Second Item. Melanoma Protein Therapy Target Identified
Dr. A. Aplin et al. of Thomas Jefferson Univ. "discovered a protein called Mcl-1 that plays a critical role in allowing melanoma cells to metastasize." Prevents melanoma cell death. Drug obatoclax, under development, targets the protein.
April 16, 2009
Climate Change Sparks Skin Cancer Alert
"Lipotek has received $500,000 in Federal Government [of Australia] funding to develop its skin cancer vaccine, which is aimed at patients who already have melanoma."
April 20, 2009
New Method for Detection of Phosphoproteins Reveals Regulator of Melanoma Invasion
Dr. N. G. Ahn et al. of Univ. of Colorado and Howard Hughes Med. Institute, using their new method, "identified ninety phosphorylation events that were regulated by oncogenic B-Raf." New demonstration of importance of a protein for controlling melanoma cell invasion.
April 9, 2009
Scientists Unravel Crucial Skin Cancer Switch
Dr. R. Marais: "We know that excessive sun exposure is the main cause of skin cancer, but not much is known about the genetics behind it. Our study shows that the genetic damage of BRAF is the first step in skin cancer development."
April 11, 2009
Researchers Reveal How Immune Cells can be Harnessed to Target Melanoma
On above. Reveals "how a type of white blood cell - Natural Killer (NK)cells - tackles tumors, characterizing for the first time the molecular interactions that lead to melanoma destruction."
April 12, 2009
Paraplatin®, Taxol®, and Avastin® Beneficial for Metastatic Melanoma
The combination is "well tolerated and provides clinical benefit.... Researchers have speculated that the addition of Avastin to chemotherapy may help control tumor growth and progression more effectively than chemotherapy alone."
February 9, 2009
Micro RNA Plays a Key Role in Melanoma Metastasis
Dr. E. Hernando et al. of NYU on miRNA 182 as "a novel therapeutic target. When it is inhibited, it impairs the invasive potential of melanoma cells and induces cell death. In theory, the administration of anti-miRNA 182 could block the growth or expansion of the primary melanoma tumor."
February 9, 2009
2008
Skin Cancer: Designer Molecule Tackles Malignant Cells by Two Completely Different Routes
“By playing it safe and using a two-pronged attack, a novel designer molecule fights malignant melanoma. It was created and tested by an international team of researchers led by the University of Bonn.”
November 2, 2008
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Substance Tackles Skin Cancer from 2 Sides
“Every single body cell is equipped with a corresponding suicide program. It is activated, for example, if the cell becomes malignant. It dies before it can do any more harm. 'But in tumours a gene is active that suppresses this suicide programme….” More on above study.
November 2, 2008
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Shape Shift Rules Cancer Spread
Dr. C. Marshall and Dr. V. Sanz-Moreno in UK “have worked out how cancer cells change their shape to spread around the body. They found that melanoma cells rapidly alternate between a round shape and a more stretchy ‘elongated’ shape to help them move in different environments.”
October 31, 2008
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Key Mechanism Behind Cancer Spread Explained
“'We are excited to discover that the amount and the activity of these proteins in the tumour cell regulates its shape and the mechanism for it to move and invade surrounding tissue.”
November 3, 2008
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Drug Combo Could Beat Cancer
Drs. A. Strasser, C. Scott, and M. Cragg of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Med. Research. “The treatment uses a new and targeted drug to block a mutated, cancer-causing pathway in melanoma and then a novel anti-cancer drug, called ABT-737, is added….”
October 31, 2008
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Thalidomide Influences Growth and Vasculogenic Mimicry Channel Formation in Melanoma
Research with mice. “Thalidomide … can induce necrosis of melanoma cells....”
November 4, 2008
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Chemotherapy Enhances Vaccine-Induced Anti-Melanoma Immunity
Dr. E. Proietti of Istituto Superiore di Sanita et al. in Rome show that pretreatment "with dacarbazine, a DNA alkylating agent, enhances vaccine-induced antitumor immunity in patients with melanoma...."
January 22, 2009
Nanomedical Approach Targets Multiple Cancer Genes, Shrinks Tumors More Effectively
“Nanoparticles filled with a drug that targets two genes that trigger melanoma could offer a potential cure for this deadly disease,” from Dr..G. Robertson of Penn State. Targets Akt3 and the mutant B-Raf.
September 15, 2008
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Sentinal Node Biopsy Warranted in Some Cases of Thin Melanoma
Dr. D. L. Morton’s study suggests that “5% of patients with a thin cutaneous melanoma (1 mm thickness or less) harbor occult nodal metastases, and in these patients, sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) may reveal important prognostic information.”
September 16, 2008
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Gene Variant Increases Melanoma Risk
“… Portuguese researchers showed that variations in a gene known as ‘cyclin D1’ also increase susceptibility to the disease.”
September 15,2008
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