fbpx

Get ready for an exciting announcement for the melanoma community

  • Days
  • Hours
  • Minutes

Funded Research

Design of sun protection/melanoma prevention materials in LatinX caregivers

Design of sun protection/melanoma prevention materials in LatinX caregivers

Design of sun protection/melanoma prevention materials in LatinX caregivers

Alondra Valencia

Mentor Dawn Siegel, MD and Jean Tang, MD, PhD
Award Type Medical Student Award
Institution Stanford University School of Medicine

Teenagers who get five or more sunburns between the age of 15 and 20 have an increased risk of getting skin cancer or melanoma. Individuals with darker skin tones have worse outcomes. Parents can influence their children’s’ exposure to sun by helping them avoid direct sunlight between 10am to 2pm, providing sun-protective clothing, and applying sunscreen, however these efforts are often low particularly in parents of children with darker skin tones. While skin cancer occurs less often in children it is important to protect their skin from the sun and reduce their risk of melanoma and other skin cancers. English and Spanish speaking patients and caregivers who self-identify as Hispanic/Latino will be surveyed and interviewed to better understand caregiver knowledge about melanoma awareness and beliefs influencing sun protective in LatinX communities. These interviews will guide the creation of sun

protection education and melanoma prevention materials (handouts, videos, or news media interviews) to address the needs of LatinX patients.

The Relationship Between Skin Tone and Molecular Alterations in Melanoma

The Relationship Between Skin Tone and Molecular Alterations in Melanoma

The Relationship Between Skin Tone and Molecular Alterations in Melanoma

Vanessa Weir

Mentor Veronica Rotemberg, MD, PhD and Alexander Shoushtari, MD
Award Type Medical Student Award
Institution Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK)
Donor Support Looney Legacy Foundation

Melanoma is the deadliest type of skin cancer. In addition to genetics, increased sun exposure may put individuals at a higher risk for developing melanoma, although this is reported only in lighter skin populations. The relationship between skin tone, genes that may lead to melanoma, and the biological makeup of melanoma tumors is not well understood in diverse populations. The aim of this study is to understand how skin tone may influence the genetic and molecular causes of advanced melanoma.

Frozen Section of Melanoma: Accuracy at an Experienced Institution

Frozen Section of Melanoma: Accuracy at an Experienced Institution

Frozen Section of Melanoma: Accuracy at an Experienced Institution

Tissiana Vallecillo

Mentor Linda Yin, MD, BA, Eric Moore, MD, and Santiago Romero-Brufau, PhD
Award Type Medical Student Award
Institution MAYO Clinic, Rochester, MN
Donor Support The Craig P. Merkel and James K. Saunders Memorial Award

Patients with melanoma of skin in the head and neck region are at high risk for death from their cancer despite surgical treatment. Currently, treatment consists of surgical removal of the tumor and a biopsy of the first lymph node that receives drainage from the affected area. This lymph node is called the sentinel lymph node. If the sentinel lymph node biopsy is positive, patients have the choice of undergoing further surgery to remove all lymph nodes that drain the affected area, or to keep an eye on the remaining lymph nodes through repeat exams with their doctor and ultrasound tests. Studies in melanoma do not show that removing the rest of the draining lymph nodes decreases the risk of death from melanoma, but it does decrease the risk of cancer coming back in the neck. In discussion with their surgeons, many patients opt to undergo repeat ultrasounds and avoid another procedure to remove the rest of the lymph nodes given the limited benefits of doing additional surgery. However, this is not always a good option for patients that live far away from medical care. Frozen section is a pathology technique that allows for analysis of tissue samples immediately while the patient is still asleep under anesthesia, returning a diagnosis in 20-30 minutes. However, detecting melanoma on frozen section analysis has traditionally been challenging. This study will investigate the accuracy of frozen section diagnosis in melanoma in an institution that performs this testing regularly. If it proves to be accurate, then it would be possible to use frozen section diagnosis to determine whether the sentinel lymph node is positive, and whether removal of the rest of the lymph nodes is warranted. If the latter can be done under the same surgery, then more patients may elect to choose this option. It could potentially save many patients from a second surgery and reduce the risk of cancer coming back in the neck.

A Barbershop Intervention to Improve Melanoma Detection in Rural US

A Barbershop Intervention to Improve Melanoma Detection in Rural US

A Barbershop Intervention to Improve Melanoma Detection in Rural US

Kaden Thomas

Mentor Jeremy Bordeaux, MD, MPH
Award Type Medical Student Award
Institution University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Donor Support In honor of Chris Westdyk

Spotting skin cancer early is important, but in rural areas of the US, it’s not always easy. Rural areas have fewer dermatologists and healthcare options, so it can be hard to see a doctor when needed. We hope to help people detect skin cancer by teaching barbers how to spot it. Barbers are important in small towns. They have good relationships with their clients and talk to them regularly. We believe that by showing them a short video about skin cancer, they can get better at spotting it. Our plan is to create a quick 5-minute video using information from the American Academy of Dermatology. We will ask barbers to watch the video and then answer some questions before and after. We hope this will improve their knowledge, confidence, and ability to spot skin cancer. We’re going to do this in six states: Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, and Kentucky. We’ll find barbers in rural areas and ask them to join our study through a phone call. In return, they’ll receive a $20 Amazon gift card, and they’ll have a chance to win $300 in a raffle. Our long term goal is to share this knowledge with barbers all across the United States, especially in rural places. This way, skin cancer is detected earlier and more people can get help if they have skin cancer.

BRAF Induced MT-UPR Informs The Melanoma Immune Landscape and Survival

BRAF Induced MT-UPR Informs The Melanoma Immune Landscape and Survival

BRAF Induced MT-UPR Informs The Melanoma Immune Landscape and Survival

Sach Thakker

Mentor Jerry Chipuk, PhD
Award Type Medical Student Award
Institution Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Donor Support In honor of Richard Draeger

Melanoma is a tragic disease that is further complicated because scientists do not completely understand the causes, and this prevents clinicians from giving the most accurate prognosis and effective treatments. In this Melanoma Research Foundation application, a research-oriented medical student will apply a recent biological discovery in skin cancer and transform this discovery into a new prognostic tool. This will be accomplished by analyzing groups of patient biopsies from healthy volunteers to those diagnosed with melanoma using modern state-of-the-art microscopy and advanced statistical methodologies. At the end of this oneyear study, modern insights will be established that provide much needed information about how melanoma develops, and this has great potential to assist clinicians when informing patients on their risk of skin cancer, the likelihood of metastatic disease, and potentially reveal which type of treatment is best for newly diagnosed melanoma patients.