Melanoma Blog

Tanning Beds Get Highest Carcinogen Rating

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, July 28 – The International Agency for Research on Cancer on Tuesday moved tanning beds to its highest cancer risk category – "carcinogenic to humans," according to a new report.

Previously, the agency had classified sunlamps and tanning beds as "probably" carcinogenic, so the move puts the devices a notch higher in terms of risk. It also echoes calls by some U.S. experts to place tougher warnings and restrictions on tanning bed use. Read more...

Related support groups: Skin Cancer, Melanoma, Basal Cell Carcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Experts Optimistic About Melanoma Vaccine

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

SATURDAY, May 30 --A vaccine for advanced melanoma has shown promise in a new study.

Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer. The five year-survival rates for local and metastatic melanoma are 65 percent and 16 percent, respectively. In 2009, an estimated 69,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with melanoma and about 8,600 will die of the disease, according to the American Cancer Society. Read more...

Related support groups: Melanoma

Gene Screen Could Help Spot Melanoma

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

TUESDAY, March 31 – Identifying the differences between melanoma skin cancer and a harmless mole can still be a tough call for even trained specialists. But scientists say differences in levels of certain genetic markers may help distinguish between the two lesions.

Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer. Standard microscopic examinations of tissue biopsies can be ambiguous, so using this new technique along with standard practice could help clarify difficult-to-diagnosis cases, according to researchers from the University of California, San Francisco. Read more...

Related support groups: Melanoma

Gene Test May ID Younger Women at Risk for Melanoma

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, March 25 – A genetic variation that's associated with a nearly fourfold increased risk of melanoma in women under the age of 50 has been identified by researchers at the New York University School of Medicine.

Identification of this variation in a gene called MDM2 could lead to a screening test to identify women at high risk for the deadly skin cancer. Read more...

Related support groups: Melanoma

Gold Nanospheres Show Promise in 'Boiling' Out Cancer

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

MONDAY, March 23 – Researchers say that using microscopic gold particles that target melanoma cells and then "boil" them when exposed to certain lighting holds promise as a new treatment for the deadly skin cancer.

The treatment uses gold nanospheres guided directly to the melanoma cells by a special protein fragment called a peptide placed inside the nanosphere. Using a technique known as photoablation therapy (PAT), doctors expose the tumors to near infrared light, causing the nanospheres to heat up and destroy the cancer while leaving healthy tissue alone. Read more...

Related support groups: Melanoma, Melanoma - Metastatic

Freckles, Moles May Indicate Risk for Eye Cancer

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, March 12 – People with moles and other features that put them at higher risk of skin cancer may also have an increased chance of developing melanoma of the eye, a new study says.

Canadian researchers found links between skin moles, freckles, moles on the iris and risk of uveal melanoma – cancer of the eye's iris, ciliary body or choroid. Among the findings were that people with atypical moles (ones that appear different in shape or color from common moles) had almost three times the risk of having uveal melanoma as did those without such moles.

The research, published in the March issue of Ophthalmology, might help clarify a long-unclear issue. Previous studies have been mixed about whether moles and freckles indicate a higher uveal melanoma rate. Read more...

Related support groups: Melanoma

Drug Could Make Melanoma More Vulnerable to Chemo

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

FRIDAY, March 6 – A compound that targets and disables a protein found in melanoma tumors may make the deadly skin cancer more vulnerable to chemotherapy, early results of a pilot study show.

Sixteen patients with advanced melanoma on an extremity (feet, hands, etc.) were given the compound ADH-1 intravenously and then underwent chemotherapy by infusion in the affected limb. The melanoma was eradicated in half the patients.

The findings were expected to be presented Friday at the Society of Surgical Oncology annual meeting in Phoenix, and have been accepted for publication in the journal Cancer. The study was funded by Adherex Technologies, which is developing ADH-1. Read more...

Related support groups: Melanoma

Drugs From Vegetables May Target Melanoma Tumors

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, March 5 – A drug based on compounds extracted from cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage could offer a potent and safe treatment against melanoma, Penn State College of Medicine researchers say.

In mice, a combination of these vegetable compounds (called isothiocyanates) and selenium slowed production and blocked the signaling network of a protein called Akt3 – which plays a role in melanoma development, – and reduced tumor growth by 60 percent. Read more...

Related support groups: Melanoma

Stress May Speed Melanoma Progression

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

THURSDAY, Feb. 19 – Stress appears to hasten the progression of aggressive or advanced melanoma skin cancer, but commonly prescribed blood pressure drugs may slow the disease and improve the quality of patients' lives, according to an Ohio State University study.

In laboratory tests, the researchers exposed samples of three melanoma cell lines to the stress hormone norepinephrine and looked for changes in the levels of certain proteins released by the cells: vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which stimulates the growth of new blood vessels to feed a growing tumor; and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8), which play a role in tumor growth. Read more...

Related support groups: Melanoma, Melanoma - Metastatic

T-Cell Infusion Therapy Boosts Melanoma Survival

Posted 3+ months ago by Drugs.com

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 22 – Melanoma patients treated with a special tumor-fighting T-cell have a greater chance to survive the disease without relapse, a new study says.

A French research team, led by Nathalie Labarriere, used adoptive immunotherapy, a process in which natural cancer-fighting T-cells are removed from the tumor of a patient with late-stage melanoma. The T-cells are put in culture dishes and allowed to expand in number, and then re-infused into the patient.

This strategy, detailed online Oct. 20 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, caused tumor regression in about half the patients treated, some of whom survived for years without relapse. Read more...

Related support groups: Melanoma