Skin Cancer

An interim analysis of the KEYNOTE-716 trial of adjuvant pembrolizumab supports its use in the adjuvant setting for patients with resected melanoma.

The combination is the first and only therapy to be approved with a tumor-agnostic indication in both children and adults with solid tumors that have a BRAF V600E mutation, Novartis said late Wednesday.

Omid A. Hamid, MD, chief of Translational Research and Immunotherapy, director, Melanoma Therapeutics, The Angeles Clinic and Research Institute, spoke with The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) about evaluating therapy options for patients with advanced melanoma.

Brain metastasis from melanoma is particularly deadly and options are limited due to the difficulty of breaching the brain-blood barrier.

Investigators also found patients in nursing homes tend to have larger tumors and may experience quality-of-life benefits from the procedure.

The analysis suggests the marker could be used to screen patients for potential immunotherapy.

The model consists of 3 metabolism-related genes—carbonic anhydrase 12, acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain family member 3, and synaptojanin 2— that the researchers said could potentially be used as biomarkers and treatment targets in the disease.

Medical oncologist Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD, spoke with The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) about how treatment options have improved for more advanced melanoma cases and the role that genetic mutations play in choosing therapy.

The microenvironment of the skin also helps explain why certain ethnicities appear to have a higher risk of melanoma.

Locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinoma can be challenging to treat, but programmed death receptor 1 inhibition may hold potential as a tolerable, effective approach in patients of all ages.

The drug yielded partial responses in 2 of 15 patients in this single-arm, phase 2 study.

Data from this new study suggest melanoma cases rose at a slower rate in lower-income countries, but the authors say that may be due to differences in case documentation.

More experienced dermatopathologists were less likely to see overdiagnosis as a significant public health problem, a new survey showed.

Investigators found 6 genes associated with cancer-associated fibroblasts that appear to correlate with response to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy.

Although classic methods of risk stratification still hold value, the authors said genetic analysis holds significant promise.

The finding is important because evidence suggests it is becoming more common for patients to receive care from a general practitioner for skin cancer, versus a surgeon or dermatologist.

Martin Dietrich, MD, PhD, of Florida Cancer Specialists spoke with The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) on risk factors in melanoma, as well as the need for genomic testing and rapid action for a cancer that can progress very quickly.

Inflammatory microenvironments appear to enhance melanoma cells’ ability to control T-cell responses.

Patients with reduced DNA mismatch repair protein expression were more likely to respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), although this study had a small sample size.

Investigators said these differences might help explain why some patients have better outcomes than others with combination immune checkpoint blockades.

It is not yet clear what impact proactive screening might have on health care costs and survival outcomes.

A recent study aimed to fill research gaps regarding skin cancer rates and risk factors in older adults.

The 5-year survival rate over the time period was just 33.8%, the study found.

A new report shows better than 80% concordance between liquid biopsy and tissue biopsy.