Five recent developments in melanoma

Study results finding that dermoscopic features distinguish breast nevi from melanoma were among recent developments reported on Healio.com/Dermatology.

Other recent study results included patients with melanoma and their partners reliably performing skin self-examinations after participating in a structured skills training intervention, compared with controls who did not receive training:

Perianal area examination may aid in identifying atypical nevi during melanoma screening

Patients undergoing melanoma screening and surveillance should also undergo a screening of the perianal area for melanocytic nevi, which were associated with atypical nevi on other areas of the body, according to data published in JAMA Dermatology.

“The perianal area is difficult to self-examine and may harbor a malignant tumor, including [cutaneous melanoma],” researchers wrote. Read more

Dermoscopic features distinguish breast nevi from melanoma

Some breast nevi may clinically and histologically resemble melanoma in women at risk for breast cancer, but certain dermoscopic features such as atypical network and irregular dots and globules were not indicative of breast melanoma, according to data published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Researchers retrospectively evaluated clinical and dermoscopic information from 104 nevi and 13 melanomas located in the chest, areola and breast, and judged the diagnostic value of each sample. Read more

Training leads to skin self-exams by patients with melanoma, partners

Patients with melanoma and their partners reliably performed skin self-examinations after participating in a structured skills training intervention, compared with controls who did not receive training, according to research published in JAMA Dermatology

June K. Robinson

June K. Robinson, MD, of the department of dermatology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, and colleagues measured the effect of a structured skin self-exam intervention for patients with melanoma and their partners who were recruited from a Midwestern region through April 14, 2013. Read more

Pembrolizumab shows activity in brain metastases from NSCLC, melanoma

Pembrolizumab demonstrated therapeutic activity in brain metastases of patients with non–small cell lung cancer or melanoma, according to early results of an ongoing randomized phase 2 trial.

“In the United States, about 50,000 patients with metastatic melanoma or non–small cell lung cancer develop brain metastases every year. ... At diagnosis, 10% of patients with metastatic NSCLC have brain metastases and another 30% develop brain involvement,” Sarah B. Goldberg, MD, MPH, assistant professor in the department of medical oncology in the Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. Read more

Pembrolizumab plus ipilimumab safe, effective for advanced melanoma

CHICAGO — Combined treatment with pembrolizumab and ipilimumab demonstrated robust antitumor activity and acceptable toxicity in patients with advanced melanoma, according to data from the KEYNOTE-029 trial presented at the ASCO Annual Meeting.

Georgina V. Long

Georgina V. Long, BSc, PhD, MBBS, FRACP, chief of melanoma medical oncology and translational research at University of Sydney and clinical researcher at Melanoma Institute Australia, presented data from the expansion cohort of the study. With Perspective. Read more