Skin Cancer Blog

The January Melanoma research review leads with a phase 3 trial evaluating ipilimumab in patients who had undergone complete resection of stage III melanoma. The authors concluded ipilimumab resulted in significantly higher rates of recurrence-free survival and overall survival than placebo. Preliminary results of CheckMate 069 trial are also reviewed in this issue. Analysis suggests that the combination of first-line nivolumab plus ipilimumab might lead to improved outcomes compared with first-line ipilimumab alone in patients with advanced melanoma. Another study found pazopanib efficacy was limited in patients with BRAF wild-type melanoma and response is associated with low M2-like macrophage density and increased expression of several chemokines.

A cross-sectional study of patients with atypical-appearing pigmented lesions concluded reflectance confocal microscopy exhibited superior sensitivity and specificity compared with multispectral digital skin lesion analysis. Another study reports perianal melanocytic nevi were common and were associated with prominent and atypical nevi elsewhere. An online survey conducted in the USA aimed to evaluate to practice patterns of US dermatologists for management of patients with primary cutaneous melanoma and found management varied from published guidelines. There were also significant management differences noted for dermatologists by practice setting and by years in practice.

Featured in this issue:

• Ipilimumab adjuvant therapy for stage III melanoma
• Sunscreen use and melanoma risk
• A gene expression signature to differentiate malignant melanoma from benign nevi
• Prevalence of perianal melanocytic nevi
• Metabolic activity in patients with melanoma treated with pazopanib and paclitaxel
• Sensitivity and specificity of MDSLA vs RCM in the detection of melanoma in vivo
• Practice patterns of US dermatologists for management of patients with primary cutaneous melanoma
• MAL and vitiligo cannot be differentiated based on blinded assessment by experts
• Nivolumab + ipilimumab vs ipilimumab alone in patients with advanced melanoma
• Impact of postoperative lymph node radiation therapy on OS of patients with stage III melanoma

Click here to download the full paper

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