Melanoma News and Research

Latest Melanoma News and Research

Researchers find way to improve immunotherapy drugs’ impact while limiting side effects

By connecting highly effective cancer immunotherapy drugs such as anti-CTLA4 (ipilimumab) and anti-PD-L1 (atezolizumab) to peptides that bind to tissues in and around tumors, a research team based at the University of Chicago found a way to improve the drugs' impact while limiting treatment-related side effects.

9 Nov 2017

Scientists uncover mechanism that prevents tumor growth in melanoma

Natural Killer (NK) cells, lymphocytes of the innate immune system with strong cytotoxic activity, play a major role in the immune response against tumors.

8 Nov 2017

New category of immunotherapy appears safe to use in patients with both cancer and HIV

A new category of immunotherapies called checkpoint inhibitors that has been highly effective against many different cancers appears safe to use in patients with both advanced malignancies and HIV, a population excluded from earlier trials of such therapies, according to an early-phase trial.

7 Nov 2017

Researchers find new way to restrict ability of cancer to use glucose for energy

Cancer cells consume exorbitant amounts of glucose, a key source of energy, and shutting down this glucose consumption has long been considered a logical therapeutic strategy.

7 Nov 2017

Study reveals link between circulating tumor cells and relapse in late-stage melanoma patients

A study revealing a connection between circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and relapse in stage IV melanoma patients points to liquid biopsy as a potential predictor of patients at high risk for disease progression. CTCs, tumor cells shed into the bloodstream or lymphatic system, can lead to additional tumor growth and/or metastasis to distant sites.

7 Nov 2017

New study finds enhanced impact of drug combination for FAP patients

People with an inherited syndrome called familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) have a 100% lifetime risk of developing colorectal cancer if they do not seek appropriate medical care.

7 Nov 2017

FDA approves first targeted cancer treatment based on basket study

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced that it has approved the drug vemurafenib for the treatment of patients with BRAF V600-mutant Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD).

7 Nov 2017

FDA grants approval to first treatment for rare blood cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approval of Zelboraf (vemurafenib) to include the treatment of certain adult patients with Erdheim-Chester Disease (ECD), a rare cancer of the blood.

7 Nov 2017

FDA approves new drug Zelboraf for Erdheim-Chester disease

The United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has approved Zelboraf (vemurafenib), a drug for the treatment of adults with a are type of blood cancer called Erdheim-Chester Disease or ECD.

6 Nov 2017

Increased risk of cancer among men with a curved penis

According to researchers, having a curved penis could raise the risk of getting certain cancers in men. The study was presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and found associations between a curved penis and Peyronie’s Disease and cancers of the testes, skin and stomach. The study titled, "Increased risk of cancer among men with peyronie’s disease", is published in the September 2017 issue of Fertility and Sterility.

3 Nov 2017

Gut bacteria may influence the response to certain cancer therapies finds study

A latest study has found that patients with advanced melanoma or skin cancer who had a specific bacteria in their gut had a more favorable response to certain types of cancer treatment or immunotherapy. The study from the University of Texas was published in the latest issue of the journal Science.

3 Nov 2017

Gut bacteria can influence how cancer responds to immunotherapy

Bacteria that live in the human digestive tract can influence how cancer responds to immunotherapy, opening a new avenue for research to improve treatment, a team led by researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center reports in the journal Science.

2 Nov 2017

Researchers develop new, three-step system to eliminate colorectal cancer

Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston have developed a new, three-step system that uses nuclear medicine to target and eliminate colorectal cancer.

2 Nov 2017

Men who tan tend to do it in riskier ways, study finds

Even though men use tanning beds at lower rates than women, men who tan tend to do it in riskier ways, according to a study by researchers at the University of Connecticut. The findings should help public health officials rethink how, and to whom, they're targeting anti-tanning messages.

2 Nov 2017

Study: More than 10% of cancer patients continue to take opioids after surgery

More than two million people in the United States are dependent on prescription opioid pain relievers, a number that continues to grow as the rate of opioid prescriptions has skyrocketed in the last 25 years.

1 Nov 2017

Livecyte™ Cell Imaging and Analysis system adopted by the Translational Research Institute, Australia

The Translational Research Institute (TRI), Brisbane has become the first centre in Australia and the Asia Pacific region to adopt the Livecyte™ Cell Imaging and Analysis system.

From Phase Focus Limited 1 Nov 2017

Inner workings of cells probed by new Kleindiek nanomanipulator at UNSW

The mechanism of how cells work is key to understanding how tumours metastasize as well as tissue regeneration and other bodily functions. The process of mechanotransduction, or how a cell converts a physical stimuli into an electrical response is fundamental to these understandings.

From AXT Pty Ltd 30 Oct 2017

Sleeper cells in cancerous tumors can be destroyed if they possess specific defects

In many metastasized types of cancer, disseminated tumors grow back despite successful chemotherapy. As a research team under the direction of the University of Bern, Switzerland, has now discovered, this is because of isolated cancer cells that survive the chemotherapy due to a phase of dormancy.

27 Oct 2017

Study finds lung cancer driver ALK-fusion in mucosal melanoma

Melanomas caused by sun exposure have been matched with targeted treatments and immunotherapies, in many cases dramatically extending patients' lives. However, there are other kinds of melanoma not related to sun exposure and because they are caused by different genetic changes, they are not susceptible to the same targeted treatments.

23 Oct 2017

New CAR-T cell therapy offers effective option for certain blood cancer patients

Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is one of the first centers nationwide to offer a new immunotherapy that targets certain blood cancers.

19 Oct 2017