Skin Cancer & Melanoma

The FDA has granted priority review to the combination of dabrafenib (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist) for the adjuvant treatment of patients with stage III melanoma with BRAF V600E or V600K mutations after complete disease resection.

The FDA has approved nivolumab for the adjuvant treatment of melanoma; it showed superiority compared with the standard of care in this patient population.

Use of a brief educational video increased hairdressers’ knowledge of melanoma detection and improved their self-confidence to detect skin lesions.

The gut microbiome affects the efficacy of PD-1 immune checkpoint blockade immunotherapy against melanoma and other cancers, according to a pair of recent studies.

Levels of circulating tumor DNA predicted worse outcomes including relapse and survival in patients with resected stage II/III melanoma, according to the results of a study.

Here, we review the features of mucosal melanoma that distinguish it from melanomas arising at other sites, and we highlight recent biological discoveries and emerging treatment options for this aggressive disease.

Treatment within 30 days of melanoma diagnosis was associated with improved outcomes; overall survival decreased in patients waiting longer than 90 days for surgery.

Researchers have found that melanoma patients may benefit from a holiday from MAPK inhibitors while alternative therapies stave off emergence of resistant melanoma clones.

The off-label use of the beta-blocker propranolol significantly reduced disease recurrence among patients with non-metastatic melanoma, according to the results of a prospective, non-randomized study.

In France and other countries with low to moderate incidence of melanoma, a new study has proposed recommending genetic testing using the rule of 3-screening those with 3 or more primary melanomas or genetically related cancers-instead of the rule of 2.

Nivolumab significantly improved recurrence-free survival compared with ipilimumab in patients with stage III/IV melanoma at high risk for recurrence, according to results of the CheckMate 238 study.

In this article, we provide an overview of the currently available systemic agents, including immunotherapeutic agents and targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitors. We also provide a practical management algorithm to guide the practicing oncologist in the use of both of these new therapies and the more traditional local treatments.

One year of combination treatment with dabrafenib plus trametinib reduced the risk for disease recurrence or death by more than half in patients with stage III high-risk BRAF V600E/K melanoma.

Age may be an important factor in estimating lymph node positivity in thin melanoma, according to the results of a recent study.

Much work has been done recently to try to determine the optimal therapies for brain metastases in melanoma patients, the most effective ways to combine them, and ideal radiation dose and fractions.

Standard-dose pembrolizumab with four reduced doses of ipilimumab followed by standard-dose pembrolizumab had a manageable safety profile and antitumor activity in patients with advanced melanoma.

Tumor samples from a single patient with melanoma provided researchers with new information about gene expression profiles that could inform immunotherapy treatments in the future.

The FDA has expanded the approval of ipilimumab (Yervoy) to include the treatment of pediatric melanoma patients 12 years and older with unresectable or metastatic disease.

Patients with advanced melanoma treated with nivolumab had higher and more durable responses compared with investigator’s choice of chemotherapy, but these increases did not result in improved survival outcomes.

Treatment of advanced melanoma with the checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab beyond RECIST-defined progression resulted in clinical benefit for selected patients, according to pooled, retrospective data from two phase III trials.

Treatment with single-agent bevacizumab resulted in an improved disease-free interval in patients with resected melanoma, but no increase in overall survival compared with observation.

An anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody is safe and effective for patients with unresectable, locally advanced, or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Patients with node-positive intermediate-thickness melanoma had an increased rate of regional disease control when undergoing completion lymph-node dissection for sentinel node metastases, however, there was no increase in melanoma-specific survival.

This peer-to-peer discussion reviews the current strategies for managing patients with melanoma, including screening and prognosis for high-risk patients and how to choose the best therapies to avoid toxicities and treatment resistance.

A new triple therapy approach using a checkpoint inhibitor and T-cell therapy is showing considerable promise in the treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma.

Treatment with the combination of the MEK inhibitor binimetinib and the BRAF inhibitor encorafenib resulted in a superior progression-free survival for patients with advanced, unresectable BRAF-mutated melanoma compared with treatment with encorafenib alone.

More than one-third of patients with metastatic uveal melanoma had objective tumor regression when treated with adoptive transfer of autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.

Researchers in Seattle are now reporting success with a biopolymer synthetic scaffold loaded with cancer-fighting T cells and a mix of nutrients to potentially combat solid tumors.

A study has identified several characteristics that can help detect seborrheic keratosis–like melanomas using dermoscopy, which can help to diagnose melanoma.

A nivolumab/ipilimumab combination significantly improved overall survival for advanced melanoma patients.