Skin Cancer News and Research

Latest Skin Cancer News and Research

Researchers report potential new role for skin bacteria in protecting against cancer

Science continues to peel away layers of the skin microbiome to reveal its protective properties. In a study published in Science Advances on February 28, University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers report a potential new role for some bacteria on the skin: protecting against cancer.

1 Mar 2018

Never too late to operate? Surgery near end of life is common, costly

At 87, Maxine Stanich cared more about improving the quality of her life than prolonging it. She suffered from a long list of health problems, including heart failure and chronic lung disease that could leave her gasping for breath.

28 Feb 2018

Carnegie Mellon to help develop novel camera that peers deep beneath the skin

Carnegie Mellon University is part of a five-year, $10 million program sponsored by the National Science Foundation to develop a new type of camera that peers deep beneath the skin to help diagnose and monitor a wide variety of health conditions.

27 Feb 2018

Adding hope to health messages may help promote preventative actions, researchers say

While fear about health concerns may grip people, adding a little hope to a message might make people more willing to take preventative actions, according to researchers.

23 Feb 2018

Zika virus could be alternative for treatment of aggressive brain cancer

Zika virus, feared for causing microcephaly in babies whose mothers were infected during pregnancy by attacking the cells that will give rise to the fetus's cerebral cortex, could be an alternative for treatment of glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive kind of malignant brain tumor in adults.

21 Feb 2018

Key protein involved in epigenetic regulation of gene expression guides skin cell renewal

Approximately once a month, our skin completely renews itself. If this highly coordinated process goes awry, it can lead to a variety of skin diseases, ranging from skin cancer to psoriasis.

19 Feb 2018

Research finds rising trend in incidence of merkel cell carcinoma

Merkel cell carcinoma is a rare type of skin cancer, affecting only a few thousand people each year, compared to tens of thousands with melanoma. But while it may not be as common as other skin cancers, MCC is highly aggressive and often deadly -; and it's also becoming more common, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology and presented at the American Academy of Dermatology 2018 Annual Meeting in San Diego.

19 Feb 2018

Study reveals parents' views toward children’s tanning bed use

While everyone who climbs into an indoor tanning bed faces an increased risk of skin cancer, this risk is especially pronounced for young people: Using indoor tanning beds before age 35 can increase one's risk of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, by 59 percent, and this risk increases with each use.

18 Feb 2018

Study reports longer survival for obese men with metastatic melanoma

Obese patients with metastatic melanoma who are treated with targeted or immune therapies live significantly longer than those with a normal body mass index, investigators report in a study published in Lancet Oncology of 1,918 patients in six independent clinical cohorts.

13 Feb 2018

Far-UVC light may offer solution to eradicating airborne flu viruses

Continuous low doses of far ultraviolet C light can kill airborne flu viruses without harming human tissues, according to a new study at the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

9 Feb 2018

New tool to monitor patterns and trends of cancer burden across Europe

On the occasion of the World Cancer Day, the European Commission's Joint Research Centre launched the European Cancer Information System (ECIS), which makes it possible to explore geographical patterns and temporal trends of cancer incidence, mortality, and survival from data submitted by some 150 European population-based cancer registries.

6 Feb 2018

NUS scientists develop new way to wirelessly deliver light for cancer treatment

A team of scientists from the National University of Singapore has developed a way to wirelessly deliver light into deep regions of the body to activate light-sensitive drugs for photodynamic therapy.

30 Jan 2018

Shorter courses of radiation effective for treatment of slow-growing skin cancers

A recent Penn State College of Medicine physician's study review suggests that shorter courses of radiation are preferable to longer ones for older patients receiving treatment for slow-growing skin cancers.

30 Jan 2018

New gel offers protection for organs at risk during prostate cancer treatment

Radiation therapy is a popular and effective treatment for many men with prostate cancer, and now a temporary gel offers greater protection for organs at risk during treatments.

23 Jan 2018

Penn scientists identify new therapeutic target for treatment of melanoma

Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have identified a new therapeutic target for the treatment of melanoma.

16 Jan 2018

AAD releases new guidelines of care for management of nonmelanoma skin cancer

Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the United States, and nonmelanoma skin cancer is the most common type of skin cancer, affecting more than 3 million Americans every year.

10 Jan 2018

Soil-dwelling bacterium produces potential weapon against melanoma

A type of soil-dwelling bacterium produces molecules that induce death in melanoma cells, research at Oregon State University shows.

4 Jan 2018

Generic skin cream may reduce squamous cell carcinoma risk

New results from a clinical trial involving more than 900 military veterans at high risk for keratinocyte carcinoma skin cancer provides evidence that using the generic skin cream fluorouacil 5 percent for two to four weeks may reduce the risk of a squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) needing surgery by 75 percent within a year.

3 Jan 2018

Higher ‘mutational burden’ of tumors predicts success rate with cancer immunotherapies

The "mutational burden," or the number of mutations present in a tumor's DNA, is a good predictor of whether that cancer type will respond to a class of cancer immunotherapy drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors, a new study led by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers shows.

21 Dec 2017

Treatment for skin cancer could be more effective if combined with arthritis drug

Treatment for the most deadly form of skin cancer could be more effective if combined with a well-known drug for rheumatoid arthritis, new research has shown.

19 Dec 2017