I live in Texas, where there’s been a pattern of rainy weather moving in. Fortunately, I don’t live in Houston, which has been inundated with 20 inches of rain and counting in the last week or so. Texas has been in a long-term drought situation for a number of years. In fact, when I moved here seven years ago (wait,… Read more »
In my ongoing quest to provide to you, my readers, interesting news about skin cancer treatments, I found a very recent article that describes efforts by researchers to develop a patch of microneedles that would deliver immunotherapy nanoparticles directly into melanoma lesions. In a previous series of posts, I wrote about an article that discusses how immunotherapy might be a… Read more »
In my previous post, I talked about trying to plan a summer getaway that would get me out of the blazing central Texas summer heat (and the intense sun). Well, the next day, I happened to be browsing kayak.com (What? Not everyone else just puts in random flight requests to see what’s possible?) when I saw that flights from Austin… Read more »
It’s mid-March and yes, I’m already thinking about summer. I live in Austin and it gets blazingly hot in summer here. I mean, this weekend we’re supposed to be close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 C)! So we’re already wondering how hot this summer is going to be. And you know, I love to travel. I love getting out somewhere… Read more »
I just came across a heart-breaking story of a young English newlywed who thought she had beaten melanoma, only to find out that what she thought was a pulled muscle was actually her cancer returned – and spreading. I’ll be honest, this type of story always makes me a bit nervous. Yes, I know that once you catch and remove… Read more »
It’s February 4 (at least on my side of the world) and it’s recognized as World Cancer Day. I wrote a blog post last year today that dealt with the weirdness of having yourself in the group of “cancer survivors”. Another 365 days later, it’s still weird. Sometimes, I forget I was diagnosed with melanoma, skin cancer, and then I… Read more »
A sobering report from the Cleveland Clinic has found that melanoma is five times more deadly for women who are pregnant or had given birth within the year. “We saw significant, worse prognoses and outcomes for women with a pregnancy-associated melanoma, compared to a control group of non-pregnant women,” stated primary author and plastic surgeon Brian Gastman. Obviously, the female human… Read more »
My previous post talked about the history of using the immune T-cells in the fight against cancer. I’m picking up the thread of the story where the human experiments began… A small pharmaceutical company approached by researcher Jim Allison, Medarex, decided to begin human trials using patients diagnosed with malignant melanoma. Melanoma sometimes responds to immunotherapy treatment. The first experiments… Read more »
I just read a story about an 8-year-old in Michigan who was diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma. I cannot imagine how scary that must be for the parents. Although not common – less than 2 percent, skin cancer can strike young children. It’s important for parents to keep an eye out, looking for any changes in their children’s skin. The… Read more »
It’s not recent, but a 2012 research study concluded that smartphone apps that are supposed to help people with identifying suspicious moles and growths actually are unreliable. In turn, people delay getting treatment for something. And as we all know, particularly with melanoma, delays are not a good thing. The study, conducted by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, a… Read more »