Melanoma News

Newly identified gene mutation adds to melanoma risk

(Massachusetts General Hospital) A major international study has identified a novel gene mutation that appears to increase the risk of both inherited and sporadic cases of malignant melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)

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New approaches may prevent certain side effects in BRAF mutation-positive melanoma

(American Association for Cancer Research) Findings from preclinical studies in a skin cancer model showed that next-generation BRAF inhibitors used alone, or first-generation BRAF inhibitors used in combination with an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor, may have the potential to prevent drug-induced skin lesions in BRAF mutation-positive patients treated for melanoma. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)

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A novel recurrent mutation in MITF predisposes to familial and sporadic melanoma

Authors: Satoru Yokoyama, Susan L. Woods, Glen M. Boyle, Lauren G. Aoude, Stuart MacGregor, Victoria Zismann, Michael Gartside, Anne E. Cust, Rizwan Haq, Mark Harland, John C. Taylor, David L. Duffy, Kelly Holohan, Ken Dutton-Regester, Jane M. Palmer, Vanessa Bonazzi, Mitchell S. Stark, Judith Symmons, Matthew H. Law, Christopher Schmidt, Cathy Lanagan, Linda O’Connor, Elizabeth A. Holland, Helen Schmid, Judith A. Maskiell, Jodie Jetann, Megan Ferguson, Mark A. Jenkins, Richard F. Kefford, Graham G. Giles, Bruce K. Armstrong, Joanne F. Aitken, John L. Hopper, David C. Whiteman, Paul D. Pharoah, Douglas F. Easton, Alison M. Dunning, Julia A. Newton-Bishop, Grant W. Montgomery, Nicholas G. Martin, Graham J. Mann, D. Timothy Bishop, Hensin Tsao, Jeffrey M. Trent, David E. Fisher, Nichol...

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Anti-CTLA4 monoclonal antibodies: the past and the future in clinical application.

Recently, two studies using ipilimumab, an anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibody (mab) demonstrated improvements in overall survival in the treatment of advanced melanoma. These studies utilized two different schedules of treatment in different patient categories (first and second line of treatment). However, the results were quite similar despite of different dosage used and the combination with dacarbazine in the first line treatment. We reviewed the result of randomized phase II-III clinical studies testing anti-CTLA-4 antibodies (ipilimumab and tremelimumab) for the treatment of melanoma to focus on practical or scientific questions related to the broad utilization of these products in the clinics. These analyses raised some considerations about the future of these compounds, their potential...

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Unsupervised skin lesions border detection via two-dimensional image analysis

Abstract: The skin cancer was analyzed by dermoscopy helpful for dermatologists. The classification of melanoma and carcinoma such as basal cell, squamous cell, and merkel cell carcinomas tumors can be increased the sensitivity and specificity. The detection of an automated border is an important step for the correctness of subsequent phases in the computerized melanoma recognition systems. The artifacts such as, dermoscopy-gel, specular reflection and outline (skin lines, blood vessels, and hair or ruler markings) were also contained in the dermoscopic images. In this paper, we present an unsupervised approach for multiple lesion segmentation, modification of Region-based Active Contours (RACs) as well as artifact diminution steps. Iterative thresholding is applied to initialize level set...

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Differences in uveal melanomas between men and women from the British Isles

Authors: B E Damato
& S E Coupland (Source: Eye)

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IL-12 triggers a programmatic change in dysfunctional myeloid-derived cells within mouse tumors

Solid tumors are complex masses with a local microenvironment, or stroma, that supports tumor growth and progression. Among the diverse tumor-supporting stromal cells is a heterogeneous population of myeloid-derived cells. These cells are alternatively activated and contribute to the immunosuppressive environment of the tumor; overcoming their immunosuppressive effects may improve the efficacy of cancer immunotherapies. We recently found that engineering tumor-specific CD8+ T cells to secrete the inflammatory cytokine IL-12 improved their therapeutic efficacy in the B16 mouse model of established melanoma. Here, we report the mechanism underlying this finding. Surprisingly, direct binding of IL-12 to receptors on lymphocytes or NK cells was not required. Instead, IL-12 sensitized bone marr...

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NeuPSA Expression Profile [Cell Biology]

In this study we investigated the complete expression profile of NeuPSA in human tissues and a few primary tumors using the anti-NeuPSA monoclonal antibody, SEAM 3. Almost every human tissue tested spanning a representative sample of all organ types was positive for SEAM 3 binding. Specificity of SEAM 3 binding was established by inhibition with NeuPSA but not closely related meningococcal C polysaccharide and loss of SEAM 3 binding when specimens were treated with periodate at high pH, which specifically destroys NeuPSA. Only subsets of cells in each specimen stained positive, and the relative staining between tissues was variable. The distribution and amount of NeuPSA antigen in tissues was correlated with known levels of polysialyltransferase PST or STX expression. The majority of anti-...

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Objective assessment of blood and lymphatic vessel invasion and association with macrophage infiltration in cutaneous melanoma

Authors: Sarah J Storr, Sabreena Safuan, Angana Mitra, Faye Elliott, Christopher Walker, Mark J Vasko, Bernard Ho, Martin Cook, Rabab AA Mohammed, Poulam M Patel, Ian O Ellis, Julia A Newton-Bishop
& Stewart G Martin (Source: Modern Pathology AOP)

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Robotic stereotactic body radiotherapy in the treatment of sinonasal mucosal melanoma: Report of four cases

ConclusionRobotic SBRT seems to be an appealing treatment option for local control. Effective systemic treatment is required to prevent distant metastases. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2011 (Source: Head and Neck)

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