Univadis access available to New Zealand doctors
5 August 2015
MSD New Zealand Ltd has recently announced
the availability to New Zealand doctors of Univadis, a free medical education
and health information website for healthcare professionals.
Europe approves pembrolizumab for advanced melanoma
22 July 2015Professor Antoni Ribas, a featured speaker
at the upcoming Melanoma Summit in Auckland 6-7 November, hopes that “drug
regulatory agencies around the world act fast on approving pembrolizumab for
front-line therapy for metastatic melanoma”.
His reported comments relate to the European Commission’s recent
approval of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of unresectable or
metastatic melanoma for both previously treated and untreated patients.
Broader public health approach to indoor tanning needed
20 July 2015This viewpoint article describes the current
regulation of indoor tanning equipment and the need for a broader public health
approach to prevent and reduce skin cancer caused by indoor tanning.
A link between high citrus consumption and melanoma?
18 July 2015Citrus consumption was associated with an
increased risk of malignant melanoma in two cohorts of women and men, according
to recent study results. Nevertheless, as identified by the authors and an
accompanying editorial, further research is needed before
current dietary advice to the public is modified.
New test improves melanoma monitoring
14 July 2015A QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute scientist has found new markers for melanoma which may allow the disease to be accurately monitored via a routine blood test. Mitchell Stark from QIMR Berghofer’s Oncogenomics group said the new biomarkers could be ideally suited for monitoring tumour progression in patients diagnosed with early metastatic disease.
Two-fold variation in melanoma rates between DHBs
13 July 2015A two-fold variation in crude and age-standardised
rates (ASR) in melanoma incidence over a recent five-year period exists between
DHBs, according to a new on-line Atlas in Healthcare Variation domain developed
by the Health Quality & Safety Commission of New Zealand. The
finding “suggests that factors other than age influence rates of melanoma
incidence”.
'Exciting new immune therapy' in the news
7 July 2015An ‘exciting new immune therapy’ and its
role in creating a ‘cancer drug revolution’ is the cover story in the July
11-17 edition of the New Zealand Listener magazine. Among the drugs featured is pembrolizumab, known commercially as Keytruda, developed by Merck Sharp & Dohme.
Group-based field therapy of solar keratosis
5 July 2015A simple process featured in a video released recently by HealthCert provides an approach that is both time- and cost-saving for patients through the provision of group therapy.
Achievements and challenges of molecular targeted therapy in melanoma
26 June 2015The use of novel molecular targeted
therapies, alone or in combination, holds great promise for the treatment of
melanoma, but is not without challenges, according to one of four open access
ASCO educational articles on melanoma.
Viagra and melanoma: link inconclusive
23 June 2015
A potential link between erectile dysfunction
drugs and melanoma may exist, but inconsistencies in the data make a
cause-and-effect relationship questionable, an analysis of a large melanoma
database suggests.