Publications by authors named "A Forschner"
Background: Up to now, the optimal duration of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) has not been evaluated in prospective studies. However, current clinical practice requires decisions to be made regarding the duration of ICI in complete responders.
Material And Methods: A survey was sent to 80 DeCOG skin cancer centers to assess how decisions are made on treatment duration of ICI in melanoma after having reached complete response, and staging intervals after ICI discontinuation.
Article Synopsis
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have greatly improved survival rates for melanoma patients, but many suffer from serious side effects and there is a need for better early response indicators.
- A study involving 104 patients used circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) as a biomarker to assess treatment response and recurrence, employing advanced sequencing techniques.
- Results showed that changes in ctDNA levels were linked to patient outcomes, indicating that tumor-informed liquid biopsies could effectively monitor treatment responses and detect early relapses in melanoma.
Article Synopsis
- Skin cancer cases are on the rise, and in 2015, Germany made a law to let patients ask for a second medical opinion about their diagnosis and treatment.
- A study with 714 patients found that most people seeking a second opinion were diagnosed with the most serious kind of skin cancer, and they wanted more information and reassurance about their treatment.
- The results showed that getting a second opinion was helpful for patients, especially those who felt they had less control over their situation, and younger patients with more advanced cancer experienced more disruption in their daily lives.
Background: Uveal melanoma is the most common malignant tumor of the eye in adults. About half of the patients develop distant metastases, most commonly liver metastases (>90%). These are associated with poorer overall survival compared to patients with extrahepatic metastases.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is the most commonly used method for determining mutational status in patients with advanced melanoma. Automated PCR-based methods, such as the Idylla system, are increasingly used for mutation diagnostics, but it is unclear what impact the choice of diagnostic method has on the management of melanoma.
Objectives: To compare the concordance rate of V600 mutational analysis using Idylla and NGS and to analyze the technical and clinical turnaround time.