Researchers have made significant advances in the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma – one of the most difficult cancers to treat successfully once it has started to spread – according to a study to be presented at Europe's largest cancer congress, ECCO 15 – ESMO 34, in Berlin on Thursday.

Recent research has uncovered an unexpected vulnerability in deadly melanoma cells that, when exploited, can cause the cancer cells to turn against themselves. The study, published by Cell Press in the August issue of the journal Cancer Cell, identifies a new target for development of future therapeutics aimed at selectively eliminating this aggressive skin cancer which is characterized by a notoriously high rate of metastasis and treatment-resistance.

Scientists from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) have found two new genes that together double a person's risk of developing melanoma.

A protein called Mcl-1 plays a critical role in melanoma cell resistance to a form of apoptosis called anoikis, according to research published this week in Molecular Cancer Research.

By targeting and disabling a protein frequently found in melanoma tumors, doctors may be able to make the cancer more vulnerable to chemotherapy, according to early results of a clinical study conducted by researchers in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center.

University of Michigan Health System researchers have published new data to help answer two dreaded questions: "Is it cancer?" and "What type of treatment should I have?"

For patients with a particularly aggressive form of skin cancer – malignant melanoma – stress, including that which comes from simply hearing that diagnosis, might amplify the progression of their disease.

Melanoma patients infused with a special type of tumor-fighting T cell are more likely to survive without relapse, suggests a new study by researchers in France. Their report will be published online on October 20 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

Researchers at the NYU Cancer Institute and the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology have identified mebendazole, a drug used globally to treat parasitic infections, as a novel investigational agent for the treatment of chemotherapy-resistant malignant melanoma.

The McCain team said on Monday that doctors had successfully removed a “spot” from the face of the US presidential Candidate. The small mole-like growth on McCain’s right side of the face was removed early morning in what the Campaign team described as a precautionary measure.

University of Rochester Medical Center researchers found a new protein produced excessively in malignant melanoma, a discovery that is particularly relevant as skin cancer rates climb dramatically among young women.

When people know the results of genetic tests confirming they have inherited an increased risk of developing melanoma, they follow skin cancer screening recommendations more proactively—much like those who have already been diagnosed with the potentially deadly disease, according to results of a study completed at the University of Utah's Huntsman Cancer Institute. and published in the June issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.