5 April 2021According to this recent study, pathologic response following neoadjuvant ipilimumab plus nivolumab in primary site melanoma lesions or in-transit metastasis is concordant with a response in the lymph node metastases, indicating that there may be no need to perform upfront surgery to these melanoma lesions prior to neoadjuvant treatment.
5 April 2021The prupose of this recent study was to evaluate whether first-line targeted therapy (TT) or immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) is more beneficial in melanoma patients with elevated lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). It concludes that Among BRAF-mutant patients with elevated LDH, combined anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 blockade seems to be associated with prolonged overall survival (OS) compared with first-line TT. Among patients receiving ICI as a first-line treatment, OS appears to be longer for the combination of anti-PD-1 and anti-CTLA-4 than for anti-PD-1 alone.
5 April 2021The aim of this recent study was to identify a potential connection between low vitamin D serum levels (VDSL) and the risk to incur melanoma. It concludes that no connection was found between VDSL and both ulceration and positive sentinel nodes. Furthermore it revealed no association between VDSL and histological subtype. Lower VDSL correlate with thick and high mitotic rate tumours. Future prospective studies would investigate if appropriate upkeep of suitable VDSL can decrease the risk of primary and recurrent melanoma diagnosis.
3 April 2021This recent study aimed to assess the efficacy of varying combinations of anti-tumor agents—imiquimod 5% cream, 5-fluorouracil 2% solution, and tretinoin 0.1% cream—with brief cryotherapy in treating non-melanoma skin cancers. It concludes that the combination of imiquimod/5-fluorouracil/tretinoin with cryotherapy had high clearance rates and was the most effective treatment regimen.
3 April 2021The ubiquitination system plays a critical role in regulation of large array of biological processes and its alteration has been involved in the pathogenesis of cancers, among them cutaneous melanoma. This review summarises the latest data on ubiquitination and discusses the possible impacts on melanoma treatments.
17 March 2021This recent study sought to develop and validate a model predicting recurrences in patients with thin melanomas.It concludes that the presented nomograms can accurately identify a subgroup at high risk. An online calculator is available at www.melanomarisk.org.au.
11 March 2021The aim of this systematic review is to summarise the evidence of the effectiveness of sun protection interventions targeted to adolescents and delivered in a secondary school setting. The study concludes that there is a lack of high-quality published studies investigating the interventions delivered in a secondary school setting to protect students from ultraviolet radiation.
11 March 2021This study analyses the evolution of human melanoma progressing from early to late disease in 13 patients by sampling their tumours at multiple sites and times. Restults imply that dysregulation of genomic integrity is a key driver of selective clonal advantage during melanoma progression.
9 March 2021A novel vaccine strategy may prime a patient’s immune system against their tumor and work synergistically with immunotherapy against advanced-stage melanoma. This was a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase IIb trial of the tumor lysate, particle-loaded, dendritic cell (TLPLDC) vaccine administered to prevent recurrence in patients with resected stage III/IV melanoma. The study suggests that patients who do not recur early benefit from TLPLDC in preventing future recurrence from melanoma.
9 March 2021According to this recent study, a novel hyperspectral imaging (HSI) device showed a high sensitivity in detecting malignant lesions in patients with Caucasian skin types. Therefore, it might be a useful clinical tool in skin types I-IV and where further triage of pigmented skin lesions is important.
