Melanoma News and Research

Latest Melanoma News and Research

'Nanobee' drug delivery to tumors

When bees sting, they pump poison into their victims. Now the toxin in bee venom has been harnessed to kill tumor cells by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers attached the major component of bee venom to nano-sized spheres that they call nanobees.

11 Aug 2009

Cephalon, Inc. completes acquisition of Arana Therapeutics

Cephalon, Inc. (Nasdaq: CEPH) announced today that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Australian biotechnology company, Arana Therapeutics Limited. As a result of the acquisition, Arana is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cephalon.

10 Aug 2009

Array Biopharma reports Q4 and full year 2009 financials

Array reported revenue of $5.5 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, compared to revenue of $6.1 million for the same period in fiscal 2008. Array invested $21.3 million in proprietary research and development for the quarter to advance its seven wholly-owned drugs in clinical development and select discovery programs.

10 Aug 2009

Scientists find key to strengthening immune response to chronic infection

A team of researchers from The Wistar Institute has identified a protein that could serve as a target for reprogramming immune system cells exhausted by exposure to chronic viral infection into more effective "soldiers" against certain viruses like HIV, hepatitis C, and hepatitis B, as well as some cancers, such as melanoma.

6 Aug 2009

Ichor Medical Systems awarded $3.3 million to develop Alzheimer’s vaccine

Ichor Medical Systems of San Diego has announced that it has been selected to receive a $3.3 million grant award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) for development of a vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease.

6 Aug 2009

$1 million grant to Rhode Island hospital for melanoma screening training program

Rhode Island Hospital dermatologist Martin Weinstock, MD, PhD, has received a $1 million, 2-year Team Science Award grant from the Melanoma Research Alliance to serve as principal investigator to develop a training program for primary care physicians to improve melanoma screening in primary care. The goal is to develop a web-based training module that will lead to earlier detection of melanoma and ultimately reduce the number of melanoma deaths by half.

6 Aug 2009

Tips on how to stay safe in the sun

Do you intend on getting a healthy tan this summer? You may want to rethink your plans. Tan skin is the body’s reaction to sun damage, along with freckles, wrinkles and brown spots. So unless your tan comes from a bottle, it’s probably not healthy.

5 Aug 2009

Sensitizing tumor response to cancer treatment

Two forms of skin and brain cancer respond very poorly to chemotherapy and radiation: melanoma and glioblastoma multiforme brain cancer.

5 Aug 2009

New method selectively kills metastatic melanoma

An international team of researchers has identified a new method for selectively killing metastatic melanoma cells, which may lead to new areas for drug development in melanoma – a cancer that is highly resistant to current treatment strategies.

4 Aug 2009

Selective method kills metastatic melanoma cells

An international team of researchers has identified a new method for selectively killing metastatic melanoma cells, which may lead to new areas for drug development in melanoma - a cancer that is highly resistant to current treatment strategies.

3 Aug 2009

Research points to new targets for melanoma

Recent research has uncovered an unexpected vulnerability in deadly melanoma cells that, when exploited, can cause the cancer cells to turn against themselves.

3 Aug 2009

Sunbeds confirmed as cancer risk

Sunbeds have been put in the highest cancer risk category by the international body charged with evaluating potential cancer hazards.

29 Jul 2009

Discovery of genes that cause melanoma

Scientists from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) have found two new genes that together double a person's risk of developing melanoma.

6 Jul 2009

Researchers using microRNA to identify aggressive melanoma

Research at the University of Leicester will be breaking new ground in the search for a simple blood test that could tell whether a patient with melanoma has the condition in an aggressive form.

30 Jun 2009

Living near water may raise your risk of skin cancer

Australian researchers say those living in coastal areas are probably more at risk for skin cancer because they spend more time in the sun.

28 Jun 2009

Nanoparticle-mediated targeting of MAPK signaling predisposes tumor to chemotherapy

An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Division of Health Sciences and Technology has demonstrated a better way to deliver cancer drugs directly to tumors.

28 Jun 2009

Novel method directs and separates cancer cells from normal cells

The vast majority of cancer deaths are due to metastasis, the spread of cancer cells from its primary site to other parts of the body. These metastatic cells tend to move more than their non-metastatic variants but this movement is poorly understood. Scientists are studying cancer cells intently with the hope they can learn to control the movements of the dangerous cells.

15 Jun 2009

Cancer immunotherapy can use small numbers of ‘stem-like’ immune cells to destroy large tumors in mice

A new approach to stimulating immune cells enhances their anticancer activity, resulting in a powerful anti-tumor response in mice, according to a study by researchers at the National Cancer Institute, a part of the National Institutes of Health. This work represents an important advance in the development of immunotherapy for cancer and appears online June 14, 2009 in Nature Medicine.

15 Jun 2009

Men hit by 'inexplicable' greater cancer death risk

Men are almost 40 per cent more likely than women to die from cancer, reveals a report published today (Monday) by the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) and Cancer Research UK together with the Men's Health Forum to mark Men's Health Week.

14 Jun 2009

Sun-damaged rough patches or lesions on the skin lead to more cancer types than once believed

Actinic keratoses are sun-damaged rough patches or lesions on the skin - often pink and scaly - that doctors have long believed can turn into a form of skin cancer known as squamous cell carcinoma.

2 Jun 2009