Holy, do you know how hard I worked to get that alliteration to work for y’all? I’m still not 100% happy with it; but it’s the best you’re going to get on a Friday. Anyway, a team of researchers from Johns Hopkins and the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Center in Florida identified RNA molecules in melanoma that seem to… Read more »
Melanoma, when it metastasizes, has a high likelihood of spreading to vital organs such as the brain. Although treatments have gotten better for melanoma patients overall, because of the increase in melanoma rates and treatments to prolong the lifespans of melanoma patients, it also means that now there are more diagnoses of melanoma-involved brain metastases. Obviously, this prospect is a… Read more »
Those of us not blessed with a high-octane metabolism already know the battle with fat cells is a miserable trench-warfare slog through the produce aisle. But new research from Tel Aviv University gives us even more reason to be suspicious of those fat cells. Apparently, they are implicated in the transition that surface-level melanoma cells undergo when they metastasize. The… Read more »
Unless this is your first time to this blog (and if so, hi; take a look around and ignore the sarcasm long enough to realize I am actually a nice person), you know that I use a lot of pixels to chat about immunotherapy. What you may not know (I honestly didn’t), is that apparently there’s a classification for melanomas… Read more »
I’ve had this tab open on my browser for some time, waiting for the day that my headache would subside enough for me to write. But seeing as I will likely have a permanent headache for the foreseeable future (and yes, I did go to a doctor and they told me basically that it was all in my head –… Read more »
The biodiversity of this planet is in peril; in fact some biologists state we’re in the midst of an extinction event. The fact of the matter is the number of species on this planet is decreasing so rapidly that soon, all that will be left are humans, our livestock, mosquitoes, cockroaches, a billion strains of viruses, and ornamental lawn grasses…. Read more »
The immune system is an incredible evolutionary machine, designed to protect us from the ravages of bacteria, viruses, and other harmful microbes. But admittedly, there are some times when the immune system doesn’t work the way it is supposed to, giving rise to auto-immune disorders. And now scientists have demonstrated how a hijack of the immune system from melanoma cells… Read more »
Immunotherapy is helping cancer patients, including those with melanoma, to more successfully fight their diseases. However, a new study released in this month’s Cancer Discovery highlights the fact that a more personalized approach could be even more successful. Brief background… immunotherapy works by activating the body’s T cells to find and destroy cancer cells. Obviously, this only works if the T… Read more »
The 2018 NCRI Cancer Conference recently wrapped up in Glasgow, Scotland. One of the most disheartening research results reported is the fact that the rate of men dying from melanoma has risen around the world. So, you might ask, isn’t the rate of melanoma death rates rising anyway? Well, in some countries the death rates are steady or even falling for… Read more »
Scientists know that melanoma has a genetic component – mutations have been found in up to 40% of families with a high rate of melanoma. If you have a first-degree relative with melanoma, you are 2-3 times more likely to develop the disease. And the more relatives you have with melanoma, the risk rate increases drastically. There are several genes… Read more »