eHealth Literacy in German Skin Cancer Patients.

The global incidence of skin cancer has steadily increased in recent years, and malignant melanoma still has one of the fastest-growing incidence rates among all malignant tumors in the western world. Thus, newly diagnosed patients have an increased need for health information concerning their disease. Using a standardized questionnaire, our study aims to investigate our patients' primary sources of health-related information as well as their self-proclaimed eHealth literacy.

Immune checkpoint inhibition therapy for advanced skin cancer in patients with concomitant hematological malignancy: a retrospective multicenter DeCOG study of 84 patients.

Background: Skin cancers are known for their strong immunogenicity, which may contribute to a high treatment efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI). However, a considerable proportion of patients with skin cancer is immuno-compromised by concomitant diseases. Due to their previous exclusion from clinical trials, the ICI treatment efficacy is poorly investigated in these patients.

Assessment of the Retina of Plp-α-Syn Mice as a Model for Studying Synuclein-Dependent Diseases.

Purpose: Synucleinopathies such as multiple system atrophy (MSA) and Parkinson's disease are associated with a variety of visual symptoms. Functional and morphological retinal aberrations are therefore supposed to be valuable biomarkers for these neurodegenerative diseases. This study examined the retinal morphology and functionality resulting from human α-synuclein (α-Syn) overexpression in the transgenic Plp-α-Syn mouse model.

Impact of a preceding radiotherapy on the outcome of immune checkpoint inhibition in metastatic melanoma: a multicenter retrospective cohort study of the DeCOG.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) is an essential treatment option in melanoma. Its outcome may be improved by a preceding radiation of metastases. This study aimed to investigate the impact of a preceding radiotherapy on the clinical outcome of ICI treatment.

Combined immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab with and without local therapy in patients with melanoma brain metastasis: a DeCOG* study in 380 patients.

Background: Nivolumab combined with ipilimumab have shown activity in melanoma brain metastasis (MBM). However, in most of the clinical trials investigating immunotherapy in this subgroup, patients with symptomatic MBM and/or prior local brain radiotherapy were excluded. We studied the efficacy of nivolumab plus ipilimumab alone or in combination with local therapies regardless of treatment line in patients with asymptomatic and symptomatic MBM.

Impact of radiation, systemic therapy and treatment sequencing on survival of patients with melanoma brain metastases.

Background: Combining stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and active systemic therapies (STs) achieved favourable survival outcomes in patients with melanoma brain metastases (MBMs) in retrospective analyses. However, several aspects of this treatment strategy remain poorly understood. We report on the overall survival (OS) of patients with MBM treated with a combination of radiotherapy (RT) and ST as well as the impact of the v-Raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B (BRAF)-V600 mutation (BRAFmut) status, types of RT and ST and their sequence.

Use of complementary and alternative medicine: A multicenter cross-sectional study in 1089 melanoma patients.

Background: About half of patients with cancer use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). So far, data on melanoma patients are missing.

Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate the prevalence and predictors for the use of CAM in this patient group.

Preferences of German melanoma patients for interferon (IFN) α-2b toxicities (the DeCOG "GERMELATOX survey") versus melanoma recurrence to quantify patients' relative values for adjuvant therapy.

Currently interferon alfa-2b (IFNα-2b) is an approved adjuvant drug for high-risk melanoma patients that leads to an improvement in disease-free survival (DFS). However, it is unclear whether it also impacts overall survival. Widespread use of adjuvant high-dose IFNα has been tempered by its significant toxicity and its limited efficacy.

Genomic correlates of response to CTLA-4 blockade in metastatic melanoma.

Monoclonal antibodies directed against cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4), such as ipilimumab, yield considerable clinical benefit for patients with metastatic melanoma by inhibiting immune checkpoint activity, but clinical predictors of response to these therapies remain incompletely characterized. To investigate the roles of tumor-specific neoantigens and alterations in the tumor microenvironment in the response to ipilimumab, we analyzed whole exomes from pretreatment melanoma tumor biopsies and matching germline tissue samples from 110 patients. For 40 of these patients, we also obtained and analyzed transcriptome data from the pretreatment tumor samples.

Novel DNA methylation markers with potential prognostic relevance in advanced malignant melanoma identified using COBRA assays.

Aberrant methylation of promoter regions involved in silencing of tumor suppressor genes is a key feature of many human cancers including melanoma. These DNA methylation events occur early in cancer development, increase with progression, and may therefore serve as biomarkers for the detection and staging of cancer. In our study, we used an epigenomic reactivation screening approach including Combined Bisulfite Restriction Analyses (COBRA) assays to identify novel methylation markers in late-stage melanoma.

Upstream mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway inhibition: MEK inhibitor followed by a BRAF inhibitor in advanced melanoma patients.

BRAF-mutant melanoma can be successfully treated by BRAF kinase inhibitors (BRAFi) and MEK kinase inhibitors (MEKi). However, the administration of BRAFi followed by MEKi did not generate promising response rate (RR). The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the time to progression (TTP) with a mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway upstream inhibition strategy in BRAF mutated melanoma patients.

The price of tumor control: an analysis of rare side effects of anti-CTLA-4 therapy in metastatic melanoma from the ipilimumab network.

Background: Ipilimumab, a cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) blocking antibody, has been approved for the treatment of metastatic melanoma and induces adverse events (AE) in up to 64% of patients. Treatment algorithms for the management of common ipilimumab-induced AEs have lead to a reduction of morbidity, e.g.

Risk evaluation in cutaneous melanoma patients undergoing lymph node dissection: impact of POSSUM.

Introduction: When lymphatic metastasis occurs, surgery is the primary treatment modality in melanoma patients. Depending on the tumour stage, patients receive a completion lymph node dissection (CLND) when a positive sentinel node is detected. Patients with clinically evident disease of the regional lymph nodes are recommended to undergo a therapeutic lymph node dissection (TLND).

Sorafenib and pegylated interferon-α2b in advanced metastatic melanoma: a multicenter phase II DeCOG trial.

Background: The combination of sorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor, and pegylated interferon-α2b (Peg-IFN-α2b) could potentially lead to an improved antitumoral response. Previously, combinations of interferon and sorafenib have been used in renal cell cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients with stage IV metastatic melanoma and no previous systemic therapies apart from adjuvant immunotherapy received Peg-IFN-α2b 3 μg/kg once per week, and sorafenib 400-mg b.

Update on immunologic therapy with anti-CTLA-4 antibodies in melanoma: identification of clinical and biological response patterns, immune-related adverse events, and their management.

Immune-modifying monoclonal antibodies may induce or enhance the natural immune response against tumor cells. The complex interaction between antigen-presenting cells and T lymphocytes as an immune response is strongly affected by anti-CD152 (cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4, CTLA-4)-antibodies. However, specific CTLA-4 antibodies can block the CTLA-4 receptor and thus induce an unrestrained T-cell activation.

Serum S100B and LDH are not useful in predicting the sentinel node status in melanoma patients.

Background: Serum S100B and LDH, as well as the status of the sentinel node, have been reported as prognostic markers in melanoma patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the value of serum S-100B and LDH in melanoma patients prior to sentinel lymph node dissection (SLND) with respect to the clinical outcome.

Patients And Methods: Serum S100B and LDH were measured prior to SLND in 259 melanoma patients between 2000 and 2006.

Clinicopathologic prognostic markers of survival: an analysis of 259 patients with malignant melanoma >or=1 mm.

The histopathologic status of the sentinel node (SN) and the ulceration of the primary tumor are important indicators of the clinical outcome of melanoma patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential correlations between prognostic factors and the sentinel lymph node status as well as their influence on disease-free survival (DFS), distant metastases-free survival (DMFS), and overall survival (OS). The medical records of 259 melanoma patients who underwent sentinel lymph node dissection between 2000 and 2006 were analyzed.

Pegylated interferons: prospects for the use in the adjuvant and palliative therapy of metastatic melanoma.

Classic interferon-alpha formulations have antitumour activity in a variety of neoplastic diseases, including the adjuvant and palliative setting of metastatic melanoma, as single agents or in combination with chemotherapy and/or interleukin-2. Pegylated interferon, widely used for the treatment of hepatitis, seems to be at least equally efficacious as standard recombinant interferon in the treatment of metastatic melanoma, and the available evidence suggests that equi-efficacious doses have somewhat lower acute toxicity. Moreover, the favourable pharmacokinetic properties of pegylated interferon allow the administration on a weekly basis, with sustained exposure to interferon during that entire period.

Anti-CTLA-4 therapy-related autoimmune hypophysitis in a melanoma patient.

Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) is an immunoregulatory molecule expressed by activated T cells and resting CD4+CD25 T cells. In patients with advanced melanoma, anti-CTLA-4 antibody therapy achieves cancer regression in 15% of patients. Treatment may be associated with grade III/IV autoimmune manifestations that included dermatitis, enterocolitis, hepatitis, uveitis, and rarely hypophysitis.

Melanocytic schwannoma of the cutaneous and subcutaneous tissues: three cases and a review of the literature.

Melanocytic schwannoma is a rare soft-tissue tumor, which arises most commonly in the paraspinal sympathetic chain. In general, 25% of the patients develop metastasis. To date, only 17 cases of a cutaneous and subcutaneous melanocytic schwannoma have been reported.

Multicenter phase II trial of the histone deacetylase inhibitor pyridylmethyl-N-{4-[(2-aminophenyl)-carbamoyl]-benzyl}-carbamate in pretreated metastatic melanoma.

Systemic treatment of metastatic melanoma is of low efficacy, and new therapeutic strategies are needed. Histone deacetylase inhibitors are supposed to restore the expression of tumor suppressor genes and induce tumor cell differentiation, growth arrest, and apoptosis. This study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of the histone deacetylase inhibitor pyridylmethyl-N-{4-[(2-aminophenyl)-carbamoyl]-benzyl}-carbamate (MS-275) in patients with pretreated metastatic melanoma.