Skin Cancer

Claire Friedman, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses the promise of immunotherapy for elderly patients with melanoma.

The 3-year survival rate of patients with advanced melanoma treated with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) has reached 40%, with many responders in remission even after stopping treatment.

Developing a skin rash as a result of EGFR-inhibitor targeted therapy often signals that the drug is working, but for patients who experience these serious dermatologic adverse events, it may become so intolerable that they will scale back or even discontinue anticancer medications that could prolong their survival.

Norman E. Sharpless, MD, Professor of Medicine & Genetics Chair, The Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses a recent study that evaluated sunscreen’s effectiveness in reducing melanoma risk.

Robert Andtbacka, MD, associate professor, Division of Surgical Oncology Department of Surgery, University of Utah School of Medicine, discusses past, present, and future trials for T-VEC.

Rajni Kannan, BS, MS, RN, ANP-BC, from Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Medical Center, discusses the adverse events (AEs) commonly seen with combinations of therapies to treat melanoma.

Rajni Kannan, BS, MS, RN, ANP-BC, discusses some risk factors for melanoma that may not be widely known.

Kathleen M. Madden, MSN, FNP-BC, AOCNP®, provides an overview of treatment of melanoma with new targeted therapies.

Mario E. Lacouture, MD, discusses the psychosocial impact of dermatologic adverse events from novel therapies in melanoma.

Rajni Kannan discusses the role of nurses in skin cancer prevention education.

Kathleen M. Madden discusses the management of adverse events (AEs) with BRAF and MEK inhibitors for the treatment of patients with melanoma.

Sancy Leachman, MD, PhD, professor and chair, Department of Dermatology, director, Melanoma Research Program, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, discusses patients who are at high risk for developing melanoma.

Sancy Leachman, MD, PhD, professor and chair, Department of Dermatology, director, Melanoma Research Program, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, discusses how a mobile app can help oncology professionals monitor patients for melanoma.

The FDA has approved the expanded indication for single-agent pembrolizumab (Keytruda) to include the frontline treatment of patients with unresectable metastatic melanoma regardless of BRAF status.

Roger Lo, MD, PhD, UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the evolution of metastatic melanoma during therapy.

Richard Joseph, MD, an oncologist at Mayo Clinic, discusses mucosal melanoma.

John Kirkwood, MD, Usher professor, Medicine, Dermatology and Translational Science, co-director, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program, University of Pittsburgh, discusses training physicians on skin examinations for detecting melanoma. 

Sancy Leachman, MD, PhD, professor and chair, Department of Dermatology, director, Melanoma Research Program, Knight Cancer Institute, Oregon Health & Science University, discusses the mobile app Mole Mapper, which allows patients to measure and monitor their moles for melanoma.

The FDA has approved nivolumab (Opdivo) as a frontline treatment for patients with BRAF wild-type advanced melanoma, based on a substantial improvement in overall survival (OS) compared with dacarbazine in a phase III study.

The combination of Tafinlar (dabrafenib) and Mekinist (trametinib) has been fully approved by the FDA to treat patients with unresectable or metastatic BRAF-mutated melanoma. The approval is based on an extension in overall survival (OS) from two phase III studies.

In this interview to gain further insight into the flurry of FDA activity, Tim Turnham, executive director of the Melanoma Research Foundation, sheds light on the recent drug approvals and what's next for treating melanoma.

Many patients who have had melanoma do not conduct regular skin self-examinations, and those who do check themselves do not use sufficient tools or techniques.

The FDA has approved Cotellic (cobimetinib) to be used in combination with Zelboraf (vemurafenib) to treat patients with metastatic or unresectable melanoma who carry the BRAFV600E/K mutation.

The FDA has expanded the approval of Yervoy (ipilimumab) to include adjuvant treatment of fully resected stage III melanoma. The treatment will apply to patients with pathologic involvement of regional lymph nodes >1 mm.

The FDA has approved the first-in-class oncolytic viral therapy Imlygic (T-VEC; talimogene laherparepvec) for the local treatment of unresectable lesions of the skin and lymph nodes in patients with melanoma that recurred after initial surgery.

The FDA has approved the combination of nivolumab (Opdivo) and ipilimumab (Yervoy) as a treatment for patients with BRAF V600 wild-type unresectable or metastatic melanoma

Richard W. Joseph, MD, oncologist, Mayo Clinic, discusses remaining optimistic with patients.

Richard W. Joseph, MD, oncologist, Mayo Clinic, discusses ways that nurses can help patients with melanoma manage toxicities from treatment.

Mario E. Lacouture, MD, dermatologist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer, discusses how nurses can help prevent and manage skin toxicities associated with melanoma treatment.