Melanoma Cells News and Research

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Researchers test modified dendritic cells in patients with melanoma

In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers led by Scott Pruitt at Duke University and Merck Research Laboratories report on a human clinical trial in which modified dendritic cells, a component of the immune system, were tested in patients with melanoma.

25 Jun 2013

Researchers report therapeutic strategy that appears to destroy drug-resistant melanomas

An advanced tumor is a complex ecosystem. Though derived from a single cell, it evolves as it grows until it contains several subspecies of cells that vary dramatically in their genetic traits and behaviors.

21 Jun 2013

Non-invasive odor analysis: A valuable technique for early diagnosis of melanoma

According to new research from the Monell Center and collaborating institutions, odors from human skin cells can be used to identify melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. In addition to detecting a unique odor signature associated with melanoma cells, the researchers also demonstrated that a nanotechnology-based sensor could reliably differentiate melanoma cells from normal skin cells.

14 Jun 2013

Tumor suppressor p53 inactivation and restoration: an interview with Dr. Xin Lu, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research

Before we talk about p53, it is important to understand why cancer cells are a problem for the body. Cancer cells multiply recklessly, refuse to die and blithely metastasize to set up shop in places where they don’t belong.

12 Jun 2013

Studies demonstrate that combined therapy could destroy drug-resistant cells within melanoma tumor

Advanced metastatic melanoma is a disease that has proven difficult to eradicate. Despite the success of melanoma-targeting drugs, tumors inevitably become drug resistant and return, more aggressive than before. In the current issue of the journal Cancer Cell, however, researchers at The Wistar Institute describe how they increase the effectiveness of anti-melanoma drugs by combining anticancer therapies with diabetes drugs.

12 Jun 2013

Scientists develop first dual-action drug against melanoma skin cancer cells

Scientists are reporting development and successful lab tests on the first potential drug to pack a lethal one-two punch against melanoma skin cancer cells. Hit number one destroys cells in the main tumor, and the second hit blocks the spread of the cancer to other sites in the body, according to their report in the journal ACS Chemical Biology.

6 Jun 2013

Isaiah J. Fidler earns 2013 American Cancer Society Medal of Honor for Basic Research

When Isaiah J. Fidler, D.V.M., Ph.D., left his veterinary surgical practice to pursue a doctorate that would allow him to study and combat the lethal spread of cancer to other organs, he got lots of advice. The common message: Don't go there.

30 May 2013

Tafinlar, Mekinist get FDA approval to treat patients with advanced melanoma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved two new drugs, Tafinlar (dabrafenib) and Mekinist (trametinib), for patients with advanced (metastatic) or unresectable (cannot be removed by surgery) melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer.

30 May 2013

Study shows PDH enzyme plays a major role in regulation of oncogene-induced cellular senescence

An article published on the journal Nature describes the major role that Pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) —an enzyme of cellular energy metabolism— plays in the regulation of the cellular senescence induced by the oncogene BRAF, which usually appears mutated in melanoma and other cancers.

22 May 2013

Mechanism of tumor suppressor p53 inactivation described

Cancer cells are a problem for the body because they multiply recklessly, refuse to die and blithely metastasize to set up shop in places where they don’t belong. One protein that keeps healthy cells from behaving this way is a tumor suppressor named p53. This protein stops potentially precancerous cells from dividing and induces suicide in those that are damaged beyond repair. Not surprisingly, p53’s critical function is disrupted in most cancers.

25 Apr 2013

Vesicular stomatitis virus spares non-cancerous cells and kills melanoma cells

Researchers from Yale University School of Medicine have demonstrated that vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is highly competent at finding, infecting, and killing human melanoma cells, both in vitro and in animal models, while having little propensity to infect non-cancerous cells.

25 Apr 2013

CNIO researcher-led consortium to receive MRA grant to advance research in melanoma

A consortium led by the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre's researcher Mar-a S. Soengas −Programme Director of the Centre-s Molecular Pathology Programme and Leader of the CNIO Melanoma Group− has been selected to receive funding from the Melanoma Research Alliance, the most important private international melanoma research foundation, in order to advance research in melanoma; this type of skin tumour represents one of oncology's biggest challenges due to its high incidence and malignancy.

24 Apr 2013

UB researchers develop aniontransporters to trigger cancer cell apoptosis

The journal Accounts of Chemical Research, which has a profound impact on Chemistry and other related sciences, publishes on its current issue the article "Anion Transporters and Biological Systems", signed by Professor Ricardo Pérez Tomás, from the Department of Pathology and Experimental Therapy of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Barcelona, Roberto Quesada, from the Department of Chemistry of the Sciences Faculty at the University of Burgos, and Philip A. Gale, from the University of Southampton, in the United Kingdom.

22 Apr 2013

Research opens new avenue for treatment of melanoma

For the first time, scientists have demonstrated the mechanism of action of gossypin, a naturally-occurring substance found in fruits and vegetables, as a treatment for melanoma, which causes the majority of deaths from skin cancer.

11 Apr 2013

Research shows UNC1062 blocks Mer survival signaling in melanoma cells

Collaborative research presented by the University of Colorado Cancer Center, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Harvard Medical School and the University of Pittsburgh, at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Conference, shows that the protein receptor Mer is overexpressed in melanoma and that the investigational drug UNC1062 blocks Mer survival signaling in these cells, killing them.

10 Apr 2013

Wistar scientists describe mechanics of oncogene-induced senescence

Researchers from The Wistar Institute explain a new molecular mechanism behind the phenomenon of oncogene-induced senescence. By depriving the cell of the ability to make new nucleotides-the building blocks of DNA molecules-cells can suppress cancer development by forcing a damaged cell into a senescent state, where the cell remains alive yet cannot reproduce.

5 Apr 2013

Combining mitochondrial inhibitors could improve efficacy of BRAF inhibitors in melanoma

A multi-institutional study has revealed that BRAF-positive metastatic malignant melanomas develop resistance to treatment with drugs targeting the BRAF/MEK growth pathway through a major change in metabolism.

11 Mar 2013

Researchers improve NanoVelcro device to better grab cancer cells as blood passes by them

Researchers at UCLA report that they have refined a method they previously developed for capturing and analyzing cancer cells that break away from patients' tumors and circulate in the blood. With the improvements to their device, which uses a Velcro-like nanoscale technology, they can now detect and isolate single cancer cells from patient blood samples for analysis.

26 Feb 2013

TP63 gene correlates significantly with worse prognosis of melanoma

Scientists at Queen Mary, University of London have identified a gene present in some melanoma which appears to make the tumour cells more resistant to treatment, according to research published today in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

19 Feb 2013

Immune system can use melanoma's own proteins to kill off cancer cells

Though a small group of proteins, the family called Ras controls a large number of cellular functions, including cell growth, differentiation, and survival. And because the protein has a hand in cellular division, mutated Ras, which can be detected in one-third of all tumors, contributes to many human cancers by allowing for the rapid growth of diseased cells.

5 Feb 2013