Category: Science
MRA Applauds Expanded Approval of Pembrolizumab to Patients with Stage 2 Melanoma
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 6 December 2021 In News, Science, Treatment
The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the largest non-profit funder of melanoma research worldwide, welcomes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision to expand eligibility of Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) to include patients with Stage IIB and IIC melanoma.
Promising Uveal Melanoma Research Advances
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 26 October 2021 In News, Science, Treatment
Uveal melanoma, often called ocular melanoma or just eye melanoma, is a rare melanoma subtype that affects about 2,500 people each year in the United States. As is true with other rare subtypes, we know far less about what causes uveal melanoma, how it progresses, and how it can be...
Paving a Path for Cancer Vaccines
22 October 2021 In News, Science
Although vaccines to prevent COVID-19 have dominated conversations and the news cycle since the start of the pandemic — Dr. Nina Bhardwaj and her team have been busy at work with a different type of vaccine altogether: one to support melanoma treatment and reduce risk of recurrence.
Challenge Accepted: MRA 2020 - 2021 Annual Report
19 October 2021 In Allies & Partnerships, Melanoma Stories, News, Policy, Prevention, Science, Treatment
This was a year like no other. COVID-19 presented new challenges that required new ways of thinking. At MRA, confronting challenges is part of our DNA. We never stop challenging ourselves, no matter the odds or obstacles, in pursuit of conquering melanoma and saving lives.
Antibiotics & Treatment-Resistant Melanoma: A Stressful Subject
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 23 September 2021 In Science
Eleonora Leucci, PhD, an MRA-funded investigator at KU Leuven (Belgium) has determined that some antibiotics may be able to slow, or even reverse, treatment resistance that melanoma develops to targeted therapies. If her preliminary findings are verified in the clinic, this would be a potent weapon in the melanoma treatment arsenal and a huge win for patients.
The Next Frontier of Combination Immunotherapy: Maximizing the Benefits & Reducing Harms
15 September 2021 In Science, Treatment
Every general knows that the best way to successfully win a war is to deploy multiple weapons with different targets. This strategy was first used in cancer to conquer childhood leukemias with combination chemotherapy and now is being put to the test in melanoma by combining multiple checkpoint inhibitors, as...
Full Sails Ahead: Immunotherapy Shows Continued Survival Benefit for Patients Facing Advanced Melanoma
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 28 July 2021 In News, Science, Treatment
After carefully following patients enrolled in Checkmate 067 over the last 6.5 years, he and the research team determined that 49% of patients treated with Opdivo + Yervoy were alive at 6.5 years and 77% of these patients remained treatment-free. This represents the longest reported median overall survival in a phase 3 melanoma clinical trial – ever.
Biomarkers: What They Are, Why They Matter, and Where They are Going
22 July 2021 In Allies & Partnerships, Science, Treatment
The melanoma treatment field has been rewarded recently with an abundance of riches. But all these exciting new treatment options for patients can also create complexity and confusion. Fortunately, help is on the way in the form of biomarkers — molecular or cellular indicators for whether a patient is likely to respond or is currently responding to their therapy, or whether they are likely to have a recurrence of their cancer.
Melanoma Research Alliance Announces 13 Dermatology Fellowship Award Recipients
The Melanoma Research Alliance, the largest non-profit funder of melanoma research, is proud to announce its 2021 Dermatology Fellowship Award recipients.
Setting the Groundwork for Patient-Centric 1st in Human Clinical Trial Funding Opportunities
7 July 2021 In Allies & Partnerships, News, Science
From Michael Kaplan, MRA President & CEO: There is a reason the word “Alliance” is in our name! The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) knows that to achieve our mission of ending suffering and death due to melanoma, broad partnerships and collaborations are required. In this spirit, MRA entered its first partnership with...