MELANOMA

BACKGROUND: Two primary histologic subtypes, superficial spreading melanoma (SSM) and nodular melanoma (NM), comprise the majority of all cutaneous melanomas. NM is associated with worse outcomes, which have been attributed to increased thickness at presentation, and it is widely expected that NM and SSM would exhibit similar behavior once metastasized. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that primary histologic subtype is an independent predictor of survival and may impact response to treatment in the metastatic setting...

The management of advanced-stage melanoma has changed dramatically with the introduction of systemic targeted therapy and immunotherapy. Patients with stage IV melanoma currently benefit from agents that are extremely effective, especially when compared with classic chemotherapeutic agents. The field is still evolving, and these newer agents are now used in patients with stage III disease, in the setting of adjuvant trials after resection of the disease bulk. Patients with bulky and numerous in-transit metastases form a very distinct subset of melanoma patients...

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Lentigo maligna (LM) is an in situ variant of melanoma. Our objective was to systematically review clinical and histological clearance and recurrence rates of imiquimod treatment of LM with emphasis on progression to lentigo maligna melanoma (LMM). PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane library were searched from inception to May 2015. Articles were included if they described histologically proven LM treated with imiquimod 5% monotherapy or combined with another topical therapy. Analysed outcomes were clinical and histological clearance, recurrence rates and number of LMM...

The incidence of melanoma has been increasing at a rapid rate, with 4%-11% of all melanoma recurrences presenting as in-transit disease. Treatments for in-transit melanoma of the extremity are varied and include surgical excision, lesional injection, regional techniques and systemic therapies. Excision to clear margins is preferred; however, in cases of widespread disease, this may not be practical. Historically, intralesional therapies were generally not curative and were often used for palliation or as adjuncts to other therapies, but recent advances in oncolytic viruses may change this paradigm...

Melanoma brain metastases are common, difficult to treat, and are associated with a poor prognosis. Historically, due to the poor activity of chemotherapeutic agents in melanoma, the management of brain metastases was centred on local treatments such as surgery, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) or whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) depending on the clinical presentation. New systemic therapies have now evolved; kinase inhibitors targeting BRAF mutated melanoma cells and activating checkpoint inhibitors that activate an immune anti-tumour response, resulting in significantly improved survival and quality of life for patients with metastatic melanoma and these drugs have demonstrated activity in melanoma brain metastases...

INTRODUCTION: In 2009, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) incorporated the tumor mitotic rate in the melanoma pathological TNM staging system. To investigate the effect of this change on the pT1 substaging of primary cutaneous melanomas, we reclassified the cases collected by a cancer registry according to the 6th and the 7th editions of AJCC melanoma staging. METHODS: Patients with pathological T1 melanoma diagnosed in the period 2000-2008 were selected from Tuscan Cancer Registry...

IMPORTANCE: Medical professionals and indeed the general public have an increasing interest in the acquisition of dermatoscopic images of suspect or ambiguous skin lesions. To this end, good dermatoscopic image quality and low costs are important considerations. OBSERVATIONS: Images of seven lesions (seborrheic keratosis, melanoma in-situ, blue and dermal nevus, basal cell carcinoma and two squamous cell carcinomas) were taken. A novel technique of "tape dermatoscopy" involved: Using immersion fluid (i...

Brain metastasis is a common endpoint in human malignant melanoma, and the prognosis for patients remains poor despite advancements in therapy. Current treatment for melanoma metastatic to the brain is grouped into those providing symptomatic relief such as corticosteroids and antiepileptic agents, to those that are disease modifying. Related to the latter group, recent studies have demonstrated that aberrant glutamate signaling plays a role in the transformation and maintenance of various cancer types, including melanoma...