Six recent developments in skin cancer

Research finding that lidocaine local anesthesia for skin cancer excision and reconstruction had less risk than conscious sedation or general anesthesia was among recent developments reported on Healio.com/Dermatology.

Other widely read developments included findings that patients with psoriasis had a greater risk for melanoma and hematologic cancers compared with patients without psoriasis, and the FDA’s approval of Opdivo for treating patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma:

Mohs micrographic surgery effective in treating sebaceous carcinoma

Mohs micrographic surgery was effective in treating patients with sebaceous carcinoma, and should be considered the first-line treatment, according to study results published in Dermatologic Surgery.

Researchers conducted a retrospective review of 37 patients (average age, 66.1 years; 65% men) with sebaceous carcinoma treated with Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) between 2001 and 2013 in the division of dermatology at Washington University, St. Louis. Read more

Patients with psoriasis may be at risk for melanoma, hematologic cancers

Patients with psoriasis had a greater risk for melanoma and hematologic cancers compared with patients without psoriasis, according to study results published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

There were 815,765 patients in the Kaiser Permanente Southern California health plan who were eligible for the study, with 8,161 (1%) who met the inclusion criteria for psoriasis. Read more

Risk factors might be used to tailor surveillance program for melanoma

Researchers found characteristics in patients at higher risk for melanoma that could be used to tailor surveillance programs and educate about skin self-examinations, according to study results published in JAMA Dermatology.

The researchers conducted an observational study based on physicians’ reported treatment of 2,727 patients with in situ or invasive melanoma between October 2006 and October 2007 in New South Wales, Australia. Data analysis was conducted between 2015 and 2016. Read more

Lidocaine local anesthesia has less risk than conscious sedation or general anesthesia

Intracutaneous lidocaine local anesthesia for skin cancer excision and reconstruction had no reported toxicity in survey results, with less risk than conscious sedation or general anesthesia, according to research published in Dermatologic Surgery.

Murad Alam, MD, MSCI, of the departments of dermatology, otolaryngology and surgery at Northwestern University, Chicago, and colleagues conducted an online survey of 1,175 members or fellows of the American College of Mohs Surgery between June and October 2014. Read more

FDA approves Opdivo for recurrent or metastatic HNSCC

The FDA approved the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose disease progressed on or after platinum-based therapy.

The agency based its decision on results from CheckMate 141, a randomized, open-label, multicenter trial designed to compare nivolumab (Opdivo, Bristol-Myers Squibb) with investigator’s choice of chemotherapy in 361 patients with recurrent or metastatic HNSCC whose disease progressed on or within 6 months of platinum-based chemotherapy. Read more

COLUMBUS trial: Binimetinib plus encorafenib improves PFS in BRAF–mutant melanoma

The phase 3 COLUMBUS trial, designed to evaluate binimetinib plus encorafenib for the treatment of BRAF–mutant melanoma, met its primary endpoint of improving PFS over vemurafenib, according to the drug’s manufacturer.

These results also were presented at the Society for Melanoma Research Congress in Boston. Read more