Melanoma

A new study has shown that an experimental class of cancer drugs has wider potential than previously thought. Researchers have found a new type of BET inhibitor that, in mouse tests, can target solid tumors more effectively and safely than others.

In preclinical tests, scientists at Wistar Institute have developed a molecule that disrupts a protein complex vital to cancer cell survival.

A nano-vaccine is showing promising results in treating skin cancer in mouse models. The vaccine encases two new cancer drugs inside a nanoparticle, with initial experiments revealing it can stimulate the immune system to kill melanoma, and act as a preventative vaccine.

A team of scientists from Israel report compelling new insights into how the metastatic spread of melanoma is assisted by nearby fat cells. The research does not suggest obesity enhances the metastatic potential of skin cancers but it does point to new drugs that can stop the spread of melanoma.

CAR-T cell therapy involves reprogramming T-cells to hunt down cancer, which has been effective against blood cancers but not so much against solid tumors. Now, scientists at MIT have found a way to supercharge the technique with a vaccine booster.

A team of researchers has developed a non-invasive tool which not only detects circulating tumor cells in the bloodstream, but can blast them away at the same time. Dubbed the Cytophone, it employs a laser which heats the CTCs, subsequently detecting them via ultrasound.

Researchers at MIT have combined two experimental cancer drugs, protein kinase inhibitors and ribonuclease drugs, and found that they worked better together than alone. The discovery could help reduce side effects of cancer treatments and make them more effective.

Scorpions, rattlesnakes and funnel-web spiders have all provided scientists with promising building blocks for next-generation medicines, and a dangerous Australian arachnid has again reared its head with a compound in its venom found to be a potent killer of melanoma cells.

Skin cancer treatment often still requires chemotherapy, which is delivered intravenously and can cause a whole range of unpleasant side effects. Now, researchers have made the first steps towards a kind of chemo that can be “painted” onto the skin.

Melanoma, a common type of skin cancer, is traditionally detected via observing changes in irregular moles, and then conducting a skin biopsy. A team has now developed a blood test that can detect melanoma in its early stages, reducing the need for expensive, and frequently unnecessary biopsies.

A new device called the sKan has won the 2017 international James Dyson Award. The sKan makes heat maps of the skin to identify anomalies associated with melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, to enable earlier detection.

Colon and melanoma cancers could soon be treated with a vaccine, if research from U-M lives up to its early promise. Using synthetic nanodiscs, scientists trained the immune systems of mice to better target cancerous cells, killing tumors within 10 days and preventing recurrence months later.