Articles related to SKIN CANCER

Resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors is common. In a prior phase Ib study, the combination of talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) pembrolizumab demonstrated an encouraging complete response rate and acceptable safety profile in patients with advanced melanoma. In this phase III, randomized, double-blind, multicenter, international study, the combination of T-VEC-pembrolizumab did not statistically improve PFS or OS vs placebo-pembrolizumab. However, T-VEC-pembrolizumab demonstrated a numerical PFS improvement without new safety signals.

Reversal of HLA-I loss is crucial for an effective antitumor cytotoxic T cell response. Thus, HLA-I–upregulating drugs could augment immunotherapy response. The authors describe here a small-molecule USP7 inhibitor as a promising avenue for pharmacologic upregulation of HLA-I in MCC.

MDM2 is an important regulator of p53 and can be an effective therapeutic target in cancers. Pharmacological inhibition of MDM2 for stabilization of p53 has been of interest for several years and several MDM2 inhibitors targeting the MDM2-p53 interaction are currently in clinical trials. Approximately 80% of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) tumors have wild type p53 and could potentially respond to treatment with MDM2 inhibitors. In this study, milademetan showed a dose-dependent inhibition of tumor growth in MKL-1 xenograft and patient-derived xenograft models and is a potent MDM2 inhibitor in MCC.

A 76-year-old Black woman arrives at the clinic for an evaluation of a slowly increasing bump on her face that she discovered about a year ago, which hasn’t itched, burnt, or caused any other pain. Is it a trichofolliculoma, a hypertrophic scar, basal cell carcinoma, or a cutis osteoma?

This case of a 51-year-old man with a 1-month history of multiple eruptive seborrheic keratoses on his back and a single painless nodule on his chest exemplifies the importance of performing a thorough evaluation in patients presenting with sudden-onset eruptive seborrheic keratoses.

A randomized trial showed no significant difference in the rate of invasive melanoma between patients taking daily aspirin and those taking a placebo. There were slightly fewer melanoma events in the aspirin group than in the placebo group — 177 and 189, respectively — but the difference between the groups was not statistically significant (hazard ratio [HR], 0.94; 95% CI, 0.77-1.16; P =.58). Similarly, there were slightly fewer invasive melanoma events in the aspirin group than in the placebo group — 76 and 94, respectively — but the between-group difference was not significant (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.60-1.10; P =.18).