We are made of elegant, interacting, dynamic structures called cells. The best estimate is that there are around 32 trillion cells in the human body. Today 5th graders begin to learn about cells and cell biology. But for the rest of us, who may be a bit rusty, or who aren’t as caught up with all the advances that have occurred in understanding...
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“Nixon asked, ‘Doctor, what do you consider the most pressing problem that medicine has today?’…My answer was simple: ‘Cancer.’ He said, ‘I’m amazed. Why do you say that?’ My reply was, ‘I think every physician who is dedicated and sincere never goes on the floor of a hospital where he has...
Read MoreIn a nutshell The authors examined the long-term outcome of vaccine-treated melanoma patients. They found that vaccination was associated with better survival. Some background In advanced melanoma (stages 3 or 4) cancer spreads from the skin to other parts of the body. Cancer vaccines are a new treatment option for these stages of melanoma....
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In a number of posts here on Medivizor we have described research on weight and cancer. For example, we reviewed research on weight loss and patient survivorship and physical activity and patient survivorship. Here is an infographic by the American Institute for Cancer Research which provides some further information on the link between obesity and...
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In a nutshell The authors analyzed the risk factors and outcomes of melanoma in women less than 50 years of age. The authors concluded that regular skin-checkup and self-examination would be necessary for women less than 50 years of age. Some background In the last few decades, incidence of skin melanoma has been rising, specially among...
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In a nutshell The authors reviewed the treatment-related side effects associated with ipilimumab (Yervoy), pembrolizumab (Keytruda), and nivolumab (Opdivo) in melanoma. The authors found that a higher dose of ipilimumab was correlated with more side effects, but the same was not true for pembrolizumab and nivolumab. Some background In advanced...
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In a nutshell The authors evaluated the effectiveness of the combination treatment of AdCD40L (a gene therapy and chemotherapy) in advanced melanoma. The authors found out that the gene therapy was well tolerated with beneficial treatment outcome. Some background In advanced melanoma (stage 3 or 4), the cancer spreads from the skin to...
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In a nutshell The authors aimed to analyze the factors that could predict resistance to BRAF inhibitor therapy in advanced melanoma. The authors found out that levels of certain proteins and the presence of a type of immune cell could predict the occurrence of resistance. Some background In advanced melanoma (stages 3 or 4), cancer spreads...
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In a nutshell The authors analyzed the outcome of a type of radiation therapy for the treatment of melanoma spread to the brain. The authors found out that the treatment was effective and well-tolerated, especially in patients with low numbers of tumors in brain and whose tumors were on the outside of the brain (extracerebral). Some background...
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In a nutshell The authors aimed to identify those melanoma patients having a low risk of cancer spreading to the lymph nodes. The authors found that most melanoma patients with intermediate tumor thickness (between 1.01 mm and 1.05 mm) had a similar risk of disease spread to the lymph nodes as found in patients with thin melanoma (tumor thickness of 1...
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In a nutshell The authors reviewed the effectiveness of combination therapy of vemurafenib (Zelboraf) and cobimetinib (Cotellic) for the treatment of BRAF-mutated advanced melanoma. The study concluded that a combination treatment with vemurafenib and cobimetinib is an effective option in BRAF-mutant melanoma that...
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In a nutshell The authors aimed to analyze the risk factors for spread of thin melanoma to nearby lymph nodes. They found that tumor thickness of 0.75 mm or greater and rapid growth of cancer cells could be among the probable factors. Some background In skin melanoma, sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) are the first lymph nodes (tiny,...
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