Combo therapies tested to overcome drug resistance in melanoma patients

About 50 to 60 percent of patients with melanoma have a mutation in the BRAF gene that drives the growth of their cancer. Most of these patients respond well to two novel agents being studied in clinical trials that inhibit the gene, with remarkable responses that are, unfortunately, almost always limited in duration.

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Therapeutic melanoma vaccine improves response rate, progression-free survival

First cancer vaccine to show improved response rate

HOUSTON ― A vaccine for one of the most lethal cancers, advanced melanoma, has improved response rate and progression-free survival for patients when combined with the immunotherapy drug Interleukin-2, according to research led by scientists from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Indiana University Health Goshen Center for Cancer Care.

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New technique extends cancer-fighting cells’ potency in melanoma patients

BOSTON–Like brainy bookworms unprepared for the rough and tumble of post-graduation life, white blood cells trained by scientists to attack tumors tend to fade away quickly when injected into cancer patients. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists, however, have developed a technique that can cause such cells to survive in patients’ bloodstreams for well over a year, in some cases, without the need of other, highly toxic treatments, a new study shows.

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Topical treatment may prevent melanoma

While incidents of melanoma continue to increase despite the use of sunscreen and skin screenings, a topical compound called ISC-4 may prevent melanoma lesion formation, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

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NIH researchers complete whole-exome sequencing of skin cancer

Study is the most comprehensive view of melanoma’s genetic landscape

A team led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health is the first to systematically survey the landscape of the melanoma genome, the DNA code of the deadliest form of skin cancer. The researchers have made surprising new discoveries using whole-exome sequencing, an approach that decodes the 1-2 percent of the genome that contains protein-coding genes. The study appears in the April 15, 2011, early online issue of Nature Genetics.

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New drug is effective against the most common form of skin cancer

Noted TGen-Scottsdale Healthcare oncologist discusses vismodegib study at AACR

ORLANDO, Fla. — April 5, 2011 — A new drug is effective in preventing new basal cell carcinomas in patients with an inherited predisposition to the disease.

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Researchers publish molecular disease model for melanoma

Cancer Commons, an initiative of CollabRx, a provider of information technology to personalize cancer treatments and accelerate research, announces the publication of a molecular disease model of melanoma (MDMM) which classifies the disease into molecular subtypes, rather than traditional histological or cellular subtypes, and describes treatment guidelines for each subtype, including specific assays, drugs, and clinical trials. The paper, titled “Molecular Disease Model for Melanoma,” by Vidwans et al, was published in the March 30th issue of PLoS ONE.

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Arthritis drug could help beat melanoma skin cancer

A breakthrough discovery by the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Children’s Hospital Boston promises an effective new treatment for one of the deadliest forms of cancer.

Reporting in the March 24 edition (front cover story) of the journal Nature, the researchers found that leflunomide - a drug commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis – also inhibits the growth of malignant melanoma.

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Researchers discover possible biomarker and therapeutic target for melanoma

Cancer biologists and biomedical engineers team up for new findings

(Boston) – Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, have identified a potential new biomarker and therapeutic target for melanoma. The novel cell screening method used in the study also clarifies the process behind tumor metastasis and may allow the identification of biomarkers for other aggressive cancers. The findings now appear online in Cancer Research.

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Biomarker test shows promise for melanoma diagnosis

Chapel Hill, NC – A new study shows that a test of biomarkers for DNA methylation is technically feasible and could aid in earlier, more precise diagnosis of melanoma.

In a paper that appeared online last week in the journal Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research, a team of UNC researchers tested whether DNA methylation profiling could be accomplished on melanoma and mole tissues that had been preserved in fixatives for typical pathology examination after biopsy. They found that results on tissues prepared in this way were reliable and DNA methylation distinguished malignant melanomas from non-malignant moles.

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