By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) — A preliminary, first-stage study funded by a pharmaceutical company shows promising results for an experimental double-drug therapy for melanoma.
The two drugs, known as dabrafenib and trametinib, appeared to delay progression of the potentially deadly skin cancer with fewer side effects than an existing drug called vemurafenib (Zelboraf).
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) — Despite warnings about the dangers of excess sun exposure, young adults in the United States still get sunburned or use indoor tanning beds, federal health officials said Thursday.
Both activities increase the risk for skin cancer — the most common cancer among Americans — including potentially fatal melanoma.
By Barbara Bronson Gray
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, May 9 (HealthDay News) — Researchers have completed the first genome sequencing of melanoma, an aggressive and frequently fatal form of skin cancer.
Understanding the genomic landscape that contributes to melanoma development could provide new insight into tumor biology and therapeutic resistance, the study authors said. They believe the discoveries may spur the development of new treatments for melanoma, which will likely kill more than 9,000 people in the United States this year, according to cancer experts.
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) — Doctors should take the time to counsel children, teens and young adults on the dangers of sun exposure and tanning beds, according to new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
But rather than focus on skin cancer, discussions with young patients should center on how ultraviolet-ray exposure can damage the way their skin looks, the task force advised.
SUNDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) — Adults and children should be screened routinely for changes in the appearance of their skin, experts advise.
Mount Sinai Medical Center researchers point out that regular visits to the dermatologist are just as important as trips to the dentist because they can provide clues as to what’s going on outside as well as inside the body.
WEDNESDAY, March 7 (HealthDay News) — Combining the immune-based drug ipilimumab with targeted radiation therapy improved one advanced melanoma patient’s ability to fight the deadly skin cancer, a new study says.
The treatment triggered a strong immune response, which resulted in shrinkage of both the tumor treated with radiation as well as tumors located at distant locations in the body, according to the study, published in the March 8 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) — People who take vitamin A supplements might be cutting their risk of developing the deadly skin cancer melanoma, a new study suggests.
Supplements of a type of vitamin A called retinol could be a protective agent against melanoma; however, too much can result in serious side effects, researchers say.
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Feb. 22 (HealthDay News) — Melanoma that has spread to other areas of the body is almost always fatal, but a new drug appears to double survival for those with a certain type of this skin cancer, researchers report.
A mutation in the BRAF protein occurs in about half the people who develop melanoma. Researchers say Zelboraf (vemurafenib), a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2011, blocks that mutation, thereby killing the cancer cells.
MONDAY, Feb. 20 (HealthDay News) — Counties with more dermatologists have lower rates of deaths from melanoma, a new study finds.
Researchers compared the number of dermatologists and melanoma deaths in 2,472 U.S. counties between January 2002 and December 2006.
MONDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a drug to treat the most common form of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma.
Erivedge (vismodegib) is the first drug sanctioned in the United States to treat basal cell skin cancer that has metastasized, or spread. The once-daily pill is also designed for cases deemed unsuitable for surgery or radiation, the agency said in a news release.
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