Bills to Restrict Access to and Harm From Indoor Tanning Facilities in US State Legislatures, 1992‒2023.

To describe progression, content, and stringency of state legislation regulating indoor tanning and association with state government political party leadership. Trained research assistants used legal mapping methods to code legislative bills on indoor tanning introduced in US states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. We calculated composite scores on the stringency of age restrictions and of warnings, operator requirements, and enforcement.

Health Economic Consequences Associated With COVID-19-Related Delay in Melanoma Diagnosis in Europe.

Importance: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in delayed access to medical care. Restrictions to health care specialists, staff shortages, and fear of SARS-CoV-2 infection led to interruptions in routine care, such as early melanoma detection; however, premature mortality and economic burden associated with this postponement have not been studied yet.

Objective: To determine the premature mortality and economic costs associated with suspended melanoma screenings during COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns by estimating the total burden of delayed melanoma diagnoses for Europe.

Proceedings from the Melanoma Research Foundation Mucosal Melanoma Meeting (December 16, 2022, New York, USA).

Mucosal melanoma remains a rare cancer with high mortality and a paucity of therapeutic options. This is due in significant part to its low incidence leading to limited patient access to expert care and downstream clinical/basic science data for research interrogation. Clinical challenges such as delayed and at times inaccurate diagnoses, and lack of consensus tumor staging have added to the suboptimal outcomes for these patients.

Primary tumor site for localized Merkel cell carcinoma drives different management strategies without impacting oncologic outcomes.

Background And Purpose: Clinically localized Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) has been associated with high rates of disease relapse. This study examines how primary tumor anatomic site drives patterns of care and outcomes in a large cohort treated in the contemporary era.

Materials And Methods: Patterns of care and associated outcomes were evaluated for clinically Stage I-II MCC patients treated at our institution with adjuvant radiation therapy (RT) to the primary site and/or regional nodal basin as a component of their curative intent therapy between 2014-2021.

Gut Microbiome in Patients With Early-Stage and Late-Stage Melanoma.

Importance: The gut microbiome modulates the immune system and responses to immunotherapy in patients with late-stage melanoma. It is unknown whether fecal microbiota profiles differ between healthy individuals and patients with melanoma or if microbiota profiles differ among patients with different stages of melanoma. Defining gut microbiota profiles in individuals without melanoma and those with early-stage and late-stage melanoma may reveal features associated with disease progression.

Presence of Circulating Tumor Cells Predates Imaging Detection of Relapse in Patients with Stage III Melanoma.

Stage III melanoma includes nodal metastasis or in-transit disease. Five-year survival rates vary between 32% and 93%. The identification of high-risk patients is important for clinical decision making.

Perspectives in Melanoma: meeting report from the Melanoma Bridge (December 1st-3rd, 2022-Naples, Italy).

Outcomes for patients with melanoma have improved over the past decade with the clinical development and approval of immunotherapies targeting immune checkpoint receptors such as programmed death-1 (PD-1), programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) or cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4). Combinations of these checkpoint therapies with other agents are now being explored to improve outcomes and enhance benefit-risk profiles of treatment. Alternative inhibitory receptors have been identified that may be targeted for anti-tumor immune therapy, such as lymphocyte-activation gene-3 (LAG-3), as have several potential target oncogenes for molecularly targeted therapy, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Cutaneous melanoma.

Cutaneous melanoma is a malignancy arising from melanocytes of the skin. Incidence rates are rising, particularly in White populations. Cutaneous melanoma is typically driven by exposure to ultraviolet radiation from natural sunlight and indoor tanning, although there are several subtypes that are not related to ultraviolet radiation exposure.

Top Melanoma Articles from 2021 to Inform Your Cancer Practice.

Advances in our understanding of melanoma biology and the role of immune checkpoint blockade and targeted therapy have ushered in a new and rapidly evolving era of multidisciplinary care for patients with melanoma. Based on efficacy for patients with metastatic melanoma, these systemic treatment approaches have been introduced into the adjuvant and, more recently, the neoadjuvant landscape. This report highlights the results of key clinical studies published or initially presented in 2021 that have informed our evidence-based approach to melanoma multidisciplinary care, primarily related to adjuvant and neoadjuvant approaches for patients with resectable or resected stage III or high-risk stage II melanoma and their impact on clinical care.

The "Great Debate" at Melanoma Bridge 2022, Naples, December 1st-3rd, 2022.

The Great Debate session at the 2022 Melanoma Bridge congress (December 1-3) featured counterpoint views from leading experts on five contemporary topics of debate in the management of melanoma. The debates considered the choice of anti-lymphocyte-activation gene (LAG)-3 therapy or ipilimumab in combination with anti-programmed death (PD)-1 therapy, whether anti-PD-1 monotherapy is still acceptable as a comparator arm in clinical trials, whether adjuvant treatment of melanoma is still a useful treatment option, the role of adjuvant therapy in stage II melanoma, what role surgery will continue to have in the treatment of melanoma. As is customary in the Melanoma Bridge Great Debates, the speakers are invited by the meeting Chairs to express one side of the assigned debate and the opinions given may not fully reflect personal views.

Melanoma metastatic to the adrenal gland: An update on the role of adrenalectomy in multidisciplinary management.

Background And Objectives: Modern systemic therapy (immune checkpoint blockade [ICB], targeted therapy) has improved survival for patients with metastatic melanoma. The role of adrenal metastasectomy is not well characterized in this setting.

Methods: Consecutive patients treated with adrenalectomy 1/1/2007-1/1/2019 were retrospectively compared to patients treated with systemic therapy alone in the same time period.

Changes in outcomes and factors associated with survival in melanoma patients with brain metastases.

Background: Treatment options for patients with melanoma brain metastasis (MBM) have changed significantly in the last decade. Few studies have evaluated changes in outcomes and factors associated with survival in MBM patients over time. The aim of this study is to evaluate changes in clinical features and overall survival (OS) for MBM patients.

Neoadjuvant relatlimab and nivolumab in resectable melanoma.

Relatlimab and nivolumab combination immunotherapy improves progression-free survival over nivolumab monotherapy in patients with unresectable advanced melanoma. We investigated this regimen in patients with resectable clinical stage III or oligometastatic stage IV melanoma (NCT02519322). Patients received two neoadjuvant doses (nivolumab 480 mg and relatlimab 160 mg intravenously every 4 weeks) followed by surgery, and then ten doses of adjuvant combination therapy.

Obesity Is Associated with Altered Tumor Metabolism in Metastatic Melanoma.

Purpose: Overweight/obese (OW/OB) patients with metastatic melanoma unexpectedly have improved outcomes with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) and BRAF-targeted therapies. The mechanism(s) underlying this association remain unclear, thus we assessed the integrated molecular, metabolic, and immune profile of tumors, as well as gut microbiome features, for associations with patient body mass index (BMI).

Experimental Design: Associations between BMI [normal (NL < 25) or OW/OB (BMI ≥ 25)] and tumor or microbiome characteristics were examined in specimens from 782 patients with metastatic melanoma across 7 cohorts.

Prognostic impact of Breslow thickness in acral melanoma: A retrospective analysis.

Background: Evidence for the prognostic importance of tumor thickness in acral melanoma (AM) patients is limited.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the prognostic impact of Breslow thickness in AM.

Methods: This multicenter study enrolled patients diagnosed with localized AM between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2017.