‘Co-conspirator’ cells could hold key to melanoma prediction, prevention

CORVALLIS, Ore. – New research on how skin cancer begins has identified adjacent cancer cells that scientists are calling “co-conspirators” in the genesis of melanoma, in findings that could someday hold the key to predicting, preventing and stopping this hard-to-treat cancer before it spreads.

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New targeted therapy for advanced melanoma associated with 80 percent response rate

New York, August 25, 2010—A multicenter study has concluded that treatment with a new targeted therapy called PLX4032 (also called RG7204) resulted in significant tumor shrinkage in 80 percent of patients with advanced melanoma. Investigators at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and colleagues at other cancer centers have published their findings in the August 26 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

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New way to slow the growth of malignant melanoma

New Queen’s University research has shown that the growth of melanoma, one of the most deadly forms of skin cancer, can be slowed when a little known gene called MicroRNA 193b is added.

Victor Tron, head of pathology and molecular medicine, focused on miR-193b when he discovered that it was deficient in melanoma tumors and because there were very few studies done about the gene. The miRNA-193b gene is found in people’s DNA and was unknown until 10 years ago.

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UVA radiation damages DNA in human melanocyte skin cells and can lead to melanoma

A new study by researchers at NYU School of Medicine found that UVA radiation damages the DNA in human melanocyte cells, causing mutations that can lead to melanoma. Melanocytes, which contain a substance called melanin that darkens the skin to protect it from the ultraviolet rays of the sun, are more vulnerable to UVA radiation than normal skin cells because they are unable to repair themselves as efficiently.

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Melanoma-initiating cell identified by Stanford scientists

STANFORD, Calif. — Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a cancer-initiating cell in human melanomas. The finding is significant because the existence of such a cell in the aggressive skin cancer has been a source of debate. It may also explain why current immunotherapies are largely unsuccessful in preventing disease recurrence in human patients.

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Mount Sinai researchers find structural basis for incidence of skin cancers in a genetic disorder

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found why patients with a variant form of xeroderma pigmentosum (XPV), an inherited genetic disorder characterized by extreme sensitivity to the sun, are more susceptible to skin cancers than the general population. The data are published in the current issue of the journal Nature. Their finding sets the stage for research into therapies that would help protect people with XPV from developing skin cancers.

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Researchers identify key enzyme in melanoma cell development

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have discovered a mechanism by which an enzyme regulates gene expression and growth in melanoma cells, a finding that could someday lead to more effective drugs to attack cancers and make them more treatable.

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Combined BRAF-targeted and immunotherapy shows promise for melanoma treatment

PHILADELPHIA — Combined targeted therapy against the BRAF/MAPK pathway with immunotherapy shows promise as a new therapeutic approach for the treatment of melanoma, according to results of a preclinical study published in Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

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Tumor target suggests personalized treatment for melanoma

Identification of a key player in a signaling pathway involved in the development of melanoma – the deadliest form of skin cancer – may offer hope for new targeted melanoma therapies.

Ann Richmond, Ph.D., and colleagues at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center report that a signaling molecule, known as IKKβ, is essential for melanoma tumor development in a mouse model of the disease. The results, published June 7 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, also point to ways of targeting therapies that inhibit IKKβ toward the patients most likely to benefit from them based on their genetic profile.

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New treatment method safe, effective for advanced melanoma patients

Contact: Courtney McCrimmon
McCrimmonCP@upmc.edu
412-715‑8894
University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences
CHICAGO, June 5 – Patients undergoing treatment for melanoma that has spread to the liver may respond well to chemotherapy delivered directly into the liver’s blood vessels, according to a study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute and Delcath Systems Inc., and led by James F. Pingpank, M.D., associate professor of surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and surgical oncologist with UPMC Cancer Centers. The results will be disclosed in an oral presentation on June 5 in Chicago at the 46th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

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