Skin Cancer

The cost of skin cancer treatments continue to increase in the United States where a large proportion of expenditures stem from the cost of systemic agents for melanoma.

Some melanoma patients prefer fewer follow-up visits, but only if self-skin examinations were utilized at home or teledermatology implemented for a quick assessment.

Changing the schedule of targeted therapies has been shown to improve the response rate in a mouse model of melanoma.

Pediatric melanomas are often misdiagnosed by physicians. Adolescents have a more aggressive disease course than children and are treated with adult protocols leading to chronic morbidity.

The combination of encorafenib plus binimetinib significantly improved overall survival versus vemurafenib in patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma, updated results of the randomized, phase three COLUMBUS trial show.

Researchers reporting at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting on June 4 presented a study in which they compared the seventh and eighth editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer melanoma staging systems. The eighth edition differentiates melanoma survival slightly worse than the previous edition.

Pembrolizumab has antitumor activity that is durable long after treatment is stopped in patients with advanced melanoma, researchers reported at the 2018 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) on June 4.

In a comparison of the performance between physician assistants and dermatologists, physician assistants may have lower diagnostic accuracy for melanoma than dermatologists, suggests a study published in JAMA Dermatology. The AAPA and SDPA question the use of the NNB ratio to determine diagnostic accuracy.

Studies have shown that melanoma incidence rates among non-Hispanic whites have been rising in recent years, which is true ― to a degree, according to a research letter published in March in JAMA Dermatology. The rates are indeed rising for those younger than 15 years old and older than 45 years old. However, the analysis highlights a big dip in melanoma cases for those between 15-44 years.

 La Roche-Posay is developing a nail art version of My UV Patch with clinical trials to start this year.

Immune system modulators are changing the ways in which dermatologists treat inflammatory skin diseases. But how best to use these medications and for which skin diseases isn’t always clear.

 Biomedical tattoo may permit early diagnosis of diseases associated with hypercalcemia, preliminary study shows.

Married patients present earlier with localized melanoma than their unmarried counterparts, a new study shows.

In a comparison of the performance between physician assistants and dermatologists, physician assistants performed more skin biopsies per case of skin cancer and diagnosed fewer melanomas in situ, a study shows.

While the vast majority of basal cell carcinomas are treated and resolved with surgery, systemic therapy with one of the two hedgehog pathway inhibitors could be a treatment option for unresectable or metastasized disease, researchers reported at the American Academy of Dermatology annual meeting in San Diego this week.

Multidisciplinary skin cancer care is an approach that might not only improve patient outcomes, but also professional satisfaction, researchers reported at AAD 2018 this week in San Diego.

In this installment of our melanoma case studies series, we focus on common cancers in unusual locations versus uncommon cancers in classic locations.

A recent study explored varying statistical approaches to a metastatic risk model for identifying SCC tumors at high risk of metastasis. Researchers identified six risk factors.

Staging system is derived from a new dataset of patients from 10 cancer centers around the world. Dermatologists should consider AJCC tumor characteristics as well as other factors in risk assessment, counseling, and follow-up plans for patients. Update takes effect in January 2018.

A novel oral formulation of itraconazole designed to improve bioavailability is leveraging its activity as a Hedgehog pathway inhibitor to provide a low toxicity, effective treatment for patients with BCC Nevus Syndrome. Data show potential for rapid therapeutic benefit.

Biopsy can differentiate risk level for patients, but selectively indicated

A known oncogene previously associated with carcinomas of the breast, liver, ovaries, and colon appears to suppress the growth of melanoma cells, a team of researchers reported recently in Cell Reports.

Kyocera Communication Systems, a subsidiary of Kyocera, is teaming with the University of Tsukuba to created artificial intelligence (AI)-based technology that could identify skin cancers and other skin diseases.