Melanoma

Melanoma is a form of cancer that begins in melanocytes (cells that make the pigment melanin). It may begin in a mole (skin melanoma), but can also begin in other pigmented tissues, such as in the eye or in the intestines.

What are Melanomas?

The treatment of melanoma may involve surgery, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or a combination of several treatment techniques. Each of these treatments is outlined below.

Melanoma Symptoms and Cause

How is Melanoma Diagnosed and Treated?

Melanoma Prognosis

Melanoma History

Melanoma Research

Choroidal Melanoma

Managing Choroidal Melanomas

Malignant Melanoma

Metastatic Melanoma

What are the Statistics of Melanoma?

Latest Melanoma News and Research

Study identifies DNA collisions driving genetic changes in cancer

Cancer researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have discovered that mutations in certain genes can lead to the accumulation of DNA errors, resulting in a specific type of genetic change known as large tandem duplications (TDs) that can arise from the collision of two critical cellular processes: transcription and DNA replication.

20 Nov 2024

Study uncovers diversity of cancer-associated fibroblasts in skin cancer

A study at MedUni Vienna's Department of Dermatology provides insights into the diversity of cancer-associated fibroblasts in white and black skin cancer and describes their different immunomodulatory roles in the tumor environment.

19 Nov 2024

Neoantigen DNA vaccines improve survival and immunity in triple-negative breast cancer patients

A new phase 1 trial demonstrates the safety and effectiveness of personalized neoantigen DNA vaccines, showing promising immune responses and improved recurrence-free survival in high-risk triple-negative breast cancer patients.

17 Nov 2024

Gut microbiome found to play key role in chronic disease progression

The gut microbiome, an ecosystem of trillions of microorganisms in the human digestive tract, has been increasingly linked to chronic diseases.

15 Nov 2024

New drug strategy reverses resistance to immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer

A new drug strategy that regulates the tumor immune microenvironment may transform a tumor that resists immunotherapy into a susceptible one, according to a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and Oregon Health & Science University.

14 Nov 2024

Teledermoscopy offers reliable skin cancer diagnosis

Collecting images of suspicious-looking skin growths and sending them off-site for specialists to analyze is as accurate in identifying skin cancers as having a dermatologist examine them in person, a new study shows.

14 Nov 2024

New approach reinvigorates exhausted T cells to improve tumor control

As cancer cells grow, they pump out metabolic byproducts such as lactic acid into the tumor microenvironment. Exhausted T cells -; which have lost their cancer-fighting oomph -; consume this lactic acid, which further saps their energy, according to new research from the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

8 Nov 2024

Study links tanning bed use to rising melanoma rates in New England

Melanoma accounts for only 1% of skin cancers in the United States but results in the largest number of skin cancer deaths. Investigators evaluated the potential link between the availability and use of tanning beds and the rising rates of melanoma in New England.

7 Nov 2024

Researchers uncover immune mechanism behind myocarditis from cancer immunotherapy

Some patients being treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, a type of cancer immunotherapy, develop a dangerous form of heart inflammation called myocarditis.

6 Nov 2024

Researchers awarded Synergy Grant to target tumor vessels and boost immunotherapy

Targeting and customizing blood vessels in tumors to increase T cell infiltration and maintain their function may represent the next breakthrough in cancer therapy.

5 Nov 2024

Combination therapy shows promising results in treating stage 3 melanoma

Pre-surgery treatment with the novel drug vidutolimod and the PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab led to tumor control in 55% of patients with stage 3 cutaneous melanoma, according to the results of a single-arm phase 2 clinical trial led by the University of Pittsburgh, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center and the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

1 Nov 2024

New therapeutic target overcomes ovarian cancer immunotherapy resistance

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have discovered a way that ovarian cancer tumors manipulate their environment to resist immunotherapy and identified a drug target that could overcome that resistance.

1 Nov 2024

New test promises to end malaria

Almost half of the world's population is at risk of malaria infection, with children and pregnant women at the highest risk of getting sick and dying from the disease. Current methods to detect this potentially deadly infection rely on obtaining an invasive blood sample, and each test has significant limitations that restrict its utility.

29 Oct 2024

Study identifies six cancer susceptibility genes

Identification of six cancer susceptibility genes offers new insights into genetic risk factors, potentially enhancing early detection and treatment strategies.

29 Oct 2024

Study uncovers six cancer susceptibility genes

Scientists at deCODE genetics/Amgen, and their collaborators have discovered six novel genes with rare germline variants that associate with cancer risk. The findings are published today in Nature Genetics under the title "Gene-based burden tests of rare germline variants identify six cancer susceptibility genes".

29 Oct 2024

Elderly population faces escalating melanoma incidence over three decades

The prevalence and fatality rates of cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) have been rising, particularly among the elderly.

28 Oct 2024

UCLA researchers identify key protein in heart healing after attack

UCLA scientists have identified the protein GPNMB as a critical regulator in the heart's healing process after a heart attack.

25 Oct 2024

P-stalk ribosomes identified as key regulators of immune evasion in cancer

Research uncovers how P-stalk ribosomes regulate cytokine responses, driving immune evasion in tumors across multiple cancer types. It offers new insights into post-translational mechanisms influencing immunotherapy success.

23 Oct 2024

New insights into melanoma metastasis reveal potential drug target

Investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine have discovered a defense mechanism that protects skin cancer cells from oxidative stress and helps them spread.

22 Oct 2024

New light-activated technology enhances immune cells' ability to target solid tumors

Immunotherapies that mobilize a patient's own immune system to fight cancer have become a treatment pillar. These therapies, including CAR T-cell therapy, have performed well in cancers like leukemias and lymphomas, but the results have been less promising in solid tumors.

21 Oct 2024