Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Autoantibodies To The Ny-Eso-1 Tumor Antigen In Metastatic Melanoma: Sialylation Of The Fc Region Of Immunoglobulin G Induces Differential Expression Signatures Of Inflammatory Molecules During Dendritic Cell Differentiation And Maturation, Martin Oaks, Nathaniel Rein, John O. Richards, James Shaffer

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: We tested the hypothesis that different glycoforms of antibodies from patients with metastatic melanoma have different functional effects on human dendritic cell differentiation and maturation.

Methods: Antibodies to the cancer antigen NY-ESO-1 were affinity-purified from patients with melanoma and further fractionated into different glycoforms by lectin chromatography. Sialic acid-rich and sialic acid-poor fractions of these immunoglobulin G antibodies (IgG) were added to dendritic cell cultures during both differentiation and maturation, and the resulting cellular messenger RNA (mRNA) and culture supernatants were tested by microarray and enzyme-linked immunoassay for molecules related to inflammatory pathways.

Results: We identified unique mRNA and …

Ultraviolet Radiation, Aging And The Skin: Prevention Of Damage By Topical Camp Manipulation, Alexandra Amaro-Ortiz, Betty Yan, John A. D’Orazio

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Being the largest and most visible organ of the body and heavily influenced by environmental factors, skin is ideal to study the long-term effects of aging. Throughout our lifetime, we accumulate damage generated by UV radiation. UV causes inflammation, immune changes, physical changes, impaired wound healing and DNA damage that promotes cellular senescence and carcinogenesis. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and among the malignancies of highest increasing incidence over the last several decades. Melanoma incidence is directly related to age, with highest rates in individuals over the age of 55 years, making it a clear age-related disease. …

The Molecular Biology And Treatment Of Malignant Melanoma With Brafv600 Mutations, Michael P. Mullane

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Since 2011, the treatment options for metastatic malignant melanoma have significantly changed. In that year, ipilimumab, an anti-CTLA4 monoclonal antibody, and vemurafenib, a potent inhibitor of mutated-BRAF (V600E and V600K), were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In 2013, dabrafenib, another inhibitor of mutated-BRAF, and trametinib, a MEK inhibitor, were approved by the FDA. Most recently, combination therapy with dabrafenib and trametinib was approved. This article will describe a patient with metastatic malignant melanoma with BRAF^V600E who has responded very well to vemurafenib monotherapy. We will then explore the molecular basis, pharmacologic development and clinical outcomes …

Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy In Head And Neck Melanoma: A Review, Martin Corsten, Stephanie Johnson-Obaseki

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

The incidence of melanoma in the United States continues to rise. Head and neck melanomas comprise approximately 20% of all primary cutaneous melanomas. Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy (SLNB) has become the standard of care for staging in melanoma. It has a number of advantages, including the addition of prognostic information, accurate staging, and the potential to add completion lymph node dissection (CLND) or adjuvant therapy when indicated. Furthermore, it may allow for the identification of patients who would benefit from inclusion in clinical trials; this advantage may be amplified based on the introduction of novel targeted therapies.

SLNB does …

Melanoma: Attacking On Many Fronts, Michael A. Thompson

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Primary Care For Melanoma: Should We Be Screaming For Screening?, Dennis J. Baumgardner, Alexandria Rogers

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

The incidence of cutaneous malignant melanoma continues to rise in the United States. This deadly disease is potentially curable if caught at an early stage, however screening programs remain controversial. The United States Preventive Services Task Force cites insufficient evidence to recommend screening, by total-body skin examination (TBSE), for early detection of cutaneous melanoma. While definitive studies may be cost-prohibitive in the United States, more recent evidence suggests that organized programs to increase TBSE reduce mortality from melanoma. The positive impact of TBSE, and education regarding risk reduction and skin self-examination, is most likely to be cost-effective in high-risk patients …

Targeted Therapy For Cutaneous Melanoma: Beyond Braf..., Michael A. Davies

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

The development and regulatory approval of vemurafenib and dabrafenib for metastatic melanoma patients with activating BRAF mutations has demonstrated that personalized targeted therapy strategies can provide significant clinical benefit in this highly aggressive disease. However, these agents are not beneficial in patients who do not have activating BRAF mutations, representing over half of all melanoma patients. Recent studies have demonstrated that melanomas have the highest rate of somatic mutations among the major cancers. Based on this information, additional personalized treatment strategies are now in various stages of clinical development and testing. These efforts are being guided by the lessons learned …

A Rendezvous With An Unexpected Diagnosis, Helen C. Williams, Alexandria Rogers

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

A personal account of skin cancer explores a caregiver’s emotional encounter with malignant melanoma, following her podiatrist’s initial diagnosis when she presented for an ingrown toenail.

Automated Classification Of Malignant Melanoma Based On Detection Of Atypical Pigment Network In Dermoscopy Images Of Skin Lesions, Nabin K. Mishra

Doctoral Dissertations

“Melanoma causes more deaths than any other form of skin cancer. Early melanoma detection is important to prevent progression to a more deadly stage. Automated computer-based identification of melanoma from dermoscopic images of skin lesions is the most efficient method in early diagnosis. An automated melanoma identification system must include multiple steps, involving lesion segmentation, feature extraction, feature combination and classification. In this research, a classifier-based approach for automatically selecting a lesion border mask for segmentation of dermoscopic skin lesion images is presented. A logistic regression based model selects a single lesion border mask from multiple border masks generated by …

Monitoring Changes In Circulating Tumour Cells As A Prognostic Indicator Of Overall Survival And Treatment Response In Patients With Metastatic Melanoma, Dragana Klinac, Elin S. Gray, James B. Freeman, Anna Reid, Samantha Bowyer, Michael Millward, Mel Ziman

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: New effective treatments for metastatic melanoma greatly improve survival in a proportion of patients. However biomarkers to identify patients that are more likely to benefit from a particular treatment are needed. We previously reported on a multimarker approach for the detection of heterogenous melanoma circulating tumour cells (CTCs). Here we evaluated the prognostic value of this multimarker quantification of CTCs and investigated whether changes in CTC levels during therapy can be used as a biomarker of treatment response and survival outcomes.Methods: CTCs were captured by targeting the melanoma associated markers MCSP and MCAM as well as the melanoma stem …