Skin Cancer

AACR has urged Congress to provide billions more in funding for cancer research, prevention efforts, and expedited review of cancer-related medical products.

Precision medicine in pharmacy has the potential to revolutionize patient care by optimizing drug selection, dosing, and monitoring.

Pharmacists can offer valuable information about sunburn, sunscreen, and skin cancer screening and provide OTC recommendations on sunburn treatment and prevention.

Melphalan/hepatic delivery system (Hepzato Kit; Delcath Systems Inc) is currently the only liver-directed therapy approved by the FDA for the treatment of netastatic uveal melanoma and percutaneous hepatic perfusion.

New data have resulted in updated guidelines for neoadjuvant cemiplimab.

In the COLUMBUS study, the FDA requested that the investigators evaluate the contribution of binimetinib while maintaining the same dosage of encorafenib at 300 mg to confirm the benefits of the combination.

Precision therapies, although effective in earlier stages, may not work later.

Findings may have therapeutic implications because of the potential to target neurotransmitters to treat or prevent melanoma.

Microgravity provides researchers with a unique environment for studying how cells behave differently than they do on Earth.

Researchers found an increase in patients with melanoma who experience chronic immune-related adverse effects at 18 months compared to a previous study with a follow-up point of 6 months.

Though an association was found between depression and anxiety and lung cancers, there were no connections found to overall, breast, prostate, colorectal, and alcohol-related cancers.

Early safety studies of NK-cell infusion have demonstrated the potential of NK-cell infusion, showing it may be the next revolution in cancer treatment.

Pembrolizumab is already indicated to treat patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma, along with stage 2B-3 melanoma after resection in adults and pediatric patients.

A panel at the Advanced Topics for Oncology Pharmacy Professionals Summit discusses strategies to address patients’ fears and distrust of the medical and scientific community.

Nivolumab-based combinations have shown significant survival benefits across several tumor types, including melanoma and advanced renal cell carcinoma.

Institutional review boards and ethics committees have seen it as their main task in the past few decades to protect children from questionable studies; however, they are faced with a new challenge with pediatric drug development.

Oncology pharmacy is best learned in real time with real oncologists and real patients.

More than half of the patients prescribed oral anticancer agents report persistent moderate-to-severe symptoms, despite receiving counseling on adverse effect management.

The microRNA member miR-204-5p inhibits apoptosis in melanoma cells treated with dacarbazine or when overexpressed.

Race, ethnicity, years after diagnosis and mental and physical stress are among factors associated with unmet supportive care needs and a higher risk of hospitalization among patients with cancer.

Memory killer cells have been shown to respond to immunotherapy, which is normally administered as a complement to other cancer treatments.

Andre Harvin, PharmD, MBA, discussed the use of immunotherapies in melanoma and broader challenges with access to oncology care in rural or underserved communities.

With immune checkpoint inhibitors in particular, patients are seeing greater results with fewer adverse effects.

For squamous cell carcinoma systemic therapy that is not concurrent with radiation therapy, preferred regimens are immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Heidi Finnes, PharmD, BCOP, FHOPA, director of clinical ambulatory pharmacy practice at Mayo Clinic, discussed updates in melanoma and the use of immunotherapies and targeted therapies.