This recent review focusses on the specific challenges associated with the management of symptomatic melanoma brain metastases, discussing current treatment paradigms, obstacles to improving clinical outcomes and directions for future research.
According to this recent study, high dose radiation therapy for treating metastatic lesions in melanoma demonstrated excellent local control and may play a role in delaying time to start or change systemic therapy.
According to this recent study, cemiplimab demonstrated clinically meaningful antitumour activity, including durable responses, and an acceptable safety profile in patients with metastatic basal cell carcinoma who had disease progression on or intolerance to hedgehog pathway inhibitor therapy.
The aim of this recent study was to review the outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment of advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) outside clinical trials. The study concludes that the effectiveness and toxicity of ICI therapy were similar to those determined in clinical trials, suggesting that ICIs could be effective and well tolerated by people with advanced CSCC who are ineligible for clinical trials.
According to this retrospective study, melanoma patients receiving radiotherapy (RT) in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) had a superior antitumoral response in both irradiated and non-irradiated lesions as compared to patients receiving only RT. Additionally, a subgroup of patients receiving RT when progressing on ICI experienced tumor regression also in non-irradiated areas.
According to this recent study, adjuvant mRNA-4157 plus pembrolizumab prolonged recurrence-free survival versus pembrolizumab monotherapy in patients with resected high-risk melanoma, and showed a manageable safety profile. These results provide evidence that an mRNA-based individualised neoantigen therapy might be beneficial in the adjuvant setting.
This study aimed to determine lateral and deep margins in keratinocytic cancer excisions performed by GPs (in a private setting) and plastic surgeons (in a private or public setting) after a teledermatologist had confirmed that excision was necessary. The study concludes that GPs were less likely than specialist surgeons to respect surgical margin recommendations established in international guidelines for managing keratinocytic cancer.
The aim of this study was to evaluate an excision pathway for keratinocytic cancers (KC) diagnosed by teledermatology. The study reports prompt excision of KCs by general practitioners after an e-referral and a teledermatology response.
Adjuvant pembrolizumab significantly improved recurrence-free survival (RFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) versus placebo in the phase 3 KEYNOTE-716 study of resected stage IIB or IIC melanoma. According to this recent post hoc analysis of efficacy by subtypes defined by histopathologic characteristics, the benefit of pembrolizumab was largely consistent with the overall study population regardless of histopathologic characteristics. These results support the use of adjuvant pembrolizumab in patients with resected stage IIB or IIC melanoma.
This recent paper aims to establish how New Zealand is doing in dealing with cancer. It compares New Zealand's performance with other countries, including Australia.