I think that’s the cheesiest headline for a blog post I’ve ever written and I’ve written a few doozies over the past almost 4 years… Anyway, I should make it clear that I know absolutely nothing about Dancing With the Stars. In fact, I really don’t know much about TV shows in general anymore. The last time I voluntarily turned… Read more »
So in the last post, I talked about checkpoint blockade immunotherapy and the results it had on prolonging survival rates for those with brain metastases. In the post, I referenced a protein called PD-1, which is found on T cells and acts as a brake on the immune response. Using immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs releases that brake and allows the… Read more »
As I have mentioned a few times in this blog, melanoma has a disconcerting tendency to spread to the lungs, liver, and brain when it enters into the metastasizing stages. And brain tumors like that are pretty darn hard to treat. Most of the current treatments don’t really provide much benefit to patients. And once melanoma metastasizes, only about half… Read more »
If you follow the news regarding advancements in melanoma detection and treatment as much as I do, you may have seen the news story that researchers in Australia have been working on developing a blood test that could identify early-stage melanoma. This is really exciting news because as we all know, the earlier you detect melanoma, the better the odds… Read more »
If you or a loved one has been prescribed hydrochlorothiazide, you may want to be extra vigilant about checking for skin changes. That’s because long-term use of this common diuretic has been previously linked to lip and non-melanoma cancers, but a new study may also extend those increased risks to melanoma. “We have recently shown that hydrochlorothiazide use increases the… Read more »
In my last post, I mentioned that the FDA has not updated the safety standards for U.S. sunscreens in just about 40 years. In the meantime, Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia have access to innovative sunscreen formulations that do a better job of protecting the skin. Think about it this way, in the U.S. we’re still on mainframe computers using… Read more »
I mentioned a few blog posts ago that the FDA sent out a sternly worded missive about sunscreen pills not being effective. And for once, the moribund agency that seems to allow a number of chemicals into U.S. food and water supplies spoke out against what basically amounts to snake oil. But don’t for a minute think that this agency… Read more »
I wrote a post a week or so ago about research that shows that taking chondroitin sulfate may actually trigger melanoma tumor growth. And then this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (better known as the FDA) released a press announcement calling out three separate dietary supplements that claim to provide protection from sunburn, skin aging, and even skin cancer…. Read more »
About a decade or so ago, people with joint pain were told that chondroitin sulfate along with glucosamine might help to reduce or elevate their pain. Others started taking the supplements to prevent joint pain. It became one of the most popular supplements in the world because of its supposed benefits. But the thing is, there haven’t been any definitive proof… Read more »
There is an incredibly unsettling story coming out of the U.S. regarding a significant number of cases of ocular melanoma. The colored parts of your eye contain melanocytes, cells that provide pigment in various parts of your body. Cancer can arise in these cells, causing melanoma. Ocular melanoma is even more rare than amelanotic nodular melanoma. It occurs in six out… Read more »