Oncology & Cancer

Cancer cells send out 'drones' to battle immune system from afar

Cancer cells are more than a lump of cells growing out of control; they participate in active combat with the immune system for their own survival. Being able to evade the immune system is a hallmark of cancer. Cancer cells ...

Oncology & Cancer

Cancer immunotherapy uses melanin against melanoma

Researchers have developed a melanin-enhanced cancer immunotherapy technique that can also serve as a vaccine, based on early experiments done in a mouse model. The technique is applied via a transdermal patch.

Oncology & Cancer

Age-related changes in skin may contribute to melanoma metastases

Age-related changes that cause the skin to stiffen and become less elastic may also contribute to higher rates of metastatic skin cancer in older people, according to research by investigators from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel ...

Oncology & Cancer

Skin cancer: New therapy option to prevent metastases

As an extremely aggressive form of skin cancer, cutaneous melanoma, is still associated with a high mortality rate. Enormous progress has recently been made in the fight against deadly metastasis, but existing therapeutic ...

Medical research

Compression of cancer cells is a double-edged sword, study finds

Adhering closely to Darwin's theory of evolution, tumors need to adapt to environmental changes to survive. A new study shows that one of those changes—the compression of cells—can both help and hinder the progression ...

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Melanoma

Melanoma (pronounced /ˌmɛləˈnoʊmə/ ( listen)) is a malignant tumor of melanocytes which are found predominantly in skin but also in the bowel and the eye (see uveal melanoma). It is one of the less common types of skin cancer but causes the majority of skin cancer related deaths. Malignant melanoma is a serious type of skin cancer. It is due to uncontrolled growth of pigment cells, called melanocytes. Despite many years of intensive laboratory and clinical research, the sole effective cure is surgical resection of the primary tumor before it achieves a Breslow thickness greater than 1 mm.

Around 160,000 new cases of melanoma are diagnosed nationally each year, and it is more frequent in males and Caucasians. It is more common in Caucasian populations living in sunny climates than in other groups. According to a WHO report about 48,000 melanoma related deaths occur worldwide per year.

Malignant melanoma accounts for 75 percent of all deaths associated with skin cancer.

The treatment includes surgical removal of the tumor, adjuvant treatment, chemo- and immunotherapy, or radiation therapy.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA