A Second Chance

Melanoma study finds new way to enhance targeted therapies

With the help of a drug formerly used to treat HIV/AIDS, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) have found a way to make melanoma cells more vulnerable to targeted anti-cancer therapy.

Melanoma response to immune therapy

Melanoma-specific expression of a certain protein identifies tumors that are more responsive to an immune therapy.

Combining treatments for melanoma

Combining therapies for melanoma that induce cell senescence and that activate the immune response may improve outcomes for patients.

Transplant Center initiative seeks to boost cancer education

Lindsay Ramsey Smith, MSN, R.N., a quality consultant for the Vanderbilt Transplant Center (VTC), recently uncovered some interesting data that sparked a center-wide improvement project.

Investigators find clues to melanoma treatment resistance

Nearly half of all patients with malignant melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, have a mutation in the BRAF gene found in their tumors. Mutations in the BRAF gene turn on a cancer growth switch known as the MAP kinase pathway.