Active clinical trials for "Melanoma"

A multi-center sample collection study in patients presenting with pigmented lesion(s) suspicious for melanoma. All suspicious lesions should meet at least one of the "ABCDE" criteria.

The purpose of this Cohort Treatment Plan is to allow access to trametinib (monotherapy or in combination) and dabrafenib (monotherapy or in combination) for eligible patients diagnosed with metastatic melanoma BRAF mutation-positive.

This study examines melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer in people diagnosed with vitiligo compared to matched controls.

Background: Melanoma mortality remains almost stable with a 0.2-1.5% increase annually despite rapid growth in reported melanoma incidence of 2.5-8.6% per year. Part of this discrepancy could be explained by overdiagnosis of melanoma, which may be as high as 54%. Histopathology is considered the gold standard diagnosis for melanocytic lesions despite only a moderately good intra- and inter-rater reliability. A possible explanation of why the inter-rater reliability is suboptimal could be that pathologists are inexperienced, extra cautious, or lack sufficient information needed for a reliable diagnosis.It has been hypothesized that the horizontal overview of a lesion through dermoscopy combined with clinical information on a given tumor, enables the generation of a tentative diagnosis that the pathologists can use to actively search for signs of pathology. Former research shows that clinicians' competence in dermoscopy can be improved by a short learning intervention, but that these skills aren't sustainable Aim: The aim of this study is to examine how acquired basic skills in dermoscopy of pigmented lesions and access to clinical images of a lesion, affect pathologists' confidence, accuracy and inter-rater reliability when interpreting melanocytic lesions.

A novel infrared imaging tool to aid in the clinical detection of atypical pigmented lesions and melanoma is developed. Goals include evaluation of the utility of high-resolution infrared scanning of cutaneous lesions in the diagnosis of pigmented lesions and the identification of high-risk lesions and melanomas.

Design: this is a pilot study of infrared imaging of cutaneous lesions in patients and volunteers with and without clinically detectable melanoma, and with one or more palpable cutaneous lesions eligible for this imaging study. Participants will be evaluated with infrared camera imaging at cutaneous sites with known melanoma deposits, suspected melanoma deposits that are to be biopsied, or at cutaneous sites with other lesions, including other skin cancers, benign inflammatory lesions, benign neoplastic lesions (lipomas, epidermal cysts, dermatofibromas, scar, healing wound, etc.).

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are very small endogenous RNA molecules about 22-25 nucleotides in length, capable of post-transcriptional gene regulation. miRNAs bind to their target messenger RNAs (mRNAs), leading to cleavage or suppression of target mRNA translation based on the degree of complementarity. miRNAs have recently been shown to play pivotal roles in diverse developmental and cellular processes and linked to a variety of skin diseases and cancers. In the present study the researchers investigate the immunohistochemical distribution of Dicer in benign and dysplastic melanocytic naevi as well as in cutaneous malignant melanoma compared to intraindividual healthy control.

During the course of a case-control study of melanoma conducted at the Bufalini Hospital, Cesena, Italy in the years 1994-1996, 20 families with 2 or 3 melanoma cases were identified and studied. The area where the study was conducted showed the steepest increase in melanoma incidence in Mediterranean populations between the years 1987 and 1997. Clinical characteristics of melanoma in the families studied were similar to those typically described in fair-skinned populations, but no relevant mutations in the coding regions of known candidate genes from melanoma have been found. Lack of findings could be due to the modest number of families and the small number of affected CMM cases examined. We cannot exclude the possibility of alterations in introns, splicing sites or promoter regions. Also epigenetic factors could affect the expression of the gene products we studied. Alternatively, germline alterations of a gene(s) other than the candidate genes we analyzed may play an important role in melanoma predisposition in this population. A large number of families is needed to test these hypotheses. These additional families could provide an important contribution to the understanding o melanoma development. In fact, this population does not generally have the host characteristics that are usually associated with higher risk for melanoma (e.g., light skin color, red hair, blue eyes, multiple freckles, tendency to sunburn, etc.) but do have a relative high frequency of dysplastic nevi and melanoma. The main objective of this study is to recruit more families at the Bufalini Hospital, Cesena, Italy in order to reach a larger sample size. Recently, 16 potential melanoma-prone families have been identified through patient's or physicians' referrals by the Dermatologists at the Bufalini Hospital. The dermatologists have maintained close relationships with members of these families and are confident that these subjects would be willing to participate in a study if contacted. The first goal of our study is to contact this family group and verify their willingness to participate in the study. In addition, new families could be identified and recruited. We propose to conduct a pilot project. We estimate recruitment of approximately 25 families with 2 or more melanoma cases in first -degree relatives over a one-year period, including the 16 families already identified and approximately 10 new kindreds. At the end of the pilot phase we will determine the feasibility of continuing recruitment.

This case-control study was planned to investigate the link of solar radiation with gene damage, host factors, and DNA repair proficiency in cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) risk. The hypothesis was that impaired DNA repair proficiency is associated with an increased risk of CMM due to unrepaired DNA damage, particularly in subjects with dysplastic nevi, poor tanning ability or genetic susceptibility. The study was reviewed as an RO1 Grant from the National Cancer Institute in 1995. Subject enrollment, which included clinical evaluation, epidemiologic questionnaires, and skin and blood sample collection, was completed in 1999 on approximately 180 melanoma cases and 180 controls identified in Italy. The study protocol and consent form both included the measurement of genetic and biochemical factors and DNA repair capacity. DNA repair proficiency was measured in lymphocytes by the host cell reactivation assay, and sun exposure was evaluated by means of a detailed questionaire. Photographs of the back of the subjects were taken to allow nevi count. Minimal erythemal dosage was measured in all subjects to estimate skin sun sensitivity 24 hours after skin's UV-irradiation. Skin color was ascertained on the inner side of the forearm by means of a Minolta chromometer. The aim of this protocol is to continue analysis of the biological samples already collected, as originally outlined in the study protocol. In particular, we plan to measure polymorphisms in genes that may lead to susceptibility to melanoma. Initially we will concentrate on variation in genes involved in repairing damaged DNA, but plan to look at a broad group of candidate susceptibility genes.

This study will look at genetic changes which occur in the development of male and female breast cancer and other cancer. It will use a new technology called DNA microarray hybridization that looks at a wide array of genes to identify disease-associated patterns in the human genome (complete set of human genes). Numerous studies have linked particular genes to a given disease, but there is very little information on patterns of gene expression (production of proteins from genetic coding) in the entire human genome. Pinpointing genetic abnormalities in disease may help classify different forms of cancer and perhaps lead to new avenues of treatment or prevention. A primary goal of this study will be to create a database of gene expression for human cancers and other disorders that will provide the basis for finding genetic abnormalities in disease. Tumors specimens used in this study will be taken from tissues biopsied from patients with breast, colon cancer, sarcomas or melanoma as part of their routine care. Patients in the study will be among those receiving care at the: Department of Oncology, University Hospital, University of Lund, Sweden (breast cancer); Department of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (breast cancer); Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland (melanoma), Johns Hopkins Univ. (colon cancer), Memorial Sloan Kettering (sarcoma). Patients in the study will have a family history taken and will complete a questionnaire. Some patients will be asked to have a blood test. Breast cancer patients will have a mammogram if one has not been done within the last year.