When diagnosed at early stages, melanoma does not seem to alter the evolution of gestation, whereas patients with advanced stages of melanoma frequently deliver prematurely, by caesarean section, with lower neonatal weight, higher neonatal morbidity and mortality rates, according to authors of this study.
Conditional survival estimates illustrate improved survival prospects for patients with cancer returning for follow-up and may define a finite period of increased risk after diagnosis, according to authors of this study.
This article reviews the clinical trial data that established the standard-of-care treatment for advanced-stage melanoma. It also outlines a rational approach to frontline-treatment selection for each individual patient with BRAF-mutant melanoma.
Liquid biopsies are a promising area of investigation for improving the clinical monitoring of patients with solid malignancies, such as melanoma, according to authors of this recent study. The authors conclude that cellfree circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) quantification might also be a novel biomarker with a prognostic value for melanoma patients.
Heterogeneity in mutational and immune profiles within tumours from individual patients could explain differences in treatment response, according to a team of researchers from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The team studied the radiological responses of 60 patients with metastatic melanoma, half of whom received targeted drug therapy and half of whom received an immune checkpoint inhibitor.
History and physical examination including regional lymph nodes, education, and surveillance recommendations should be based on a very low, but not zero, risk of metastasis, according to authors of this study.
As sunburn does occur among those who do not intend to tan, public health initiatives should focus on increasing sun protection (clothing and shade) and reducing potential barriers to sun protection, according to authors of this New Zealand study.
In this perspective article, a group of US dermatologists critique of the USPSTF skin screening statement and the rationale for it.
Biological, environmental, and behavioral factors may explain the observed gender difference in melanoma incidence and outcome, according to authors of this study.
The overall burden of disease for melanoma is increasing and rising rates are not simply artifact owing to increased detection of indolent disease, according to a recent analysis of trends in US.