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CURE’s skin cancer page is an extensive resource of cancer information featuring the latest skin cancer news, expert oncologist insights on the latest cancer treatments, oncology research, advocacy efforts, and medical data on skin cancer.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved four different therapies in the oncology space — one of which, Amtagvi, marks the first cellular therapy for the treatment of solid cancers.

Onivyde regimen for metastatic pancreatic cancer

) was covered in last week’s episode, but here’s a list of what has happened since that last recording.

FDA Approves Tepmetko for Metastatic NSCLC Subtype

Patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer that has MET exon 14 skipping alterations may soon have a new treatment option, as the FDA approved Tepmetko in this indication.

Notably, this full approval is coming three years after the agency’s accelerated approval of the agent back in February 2021. Follow-up clinical trial data showed that 57% of previously untreated patients responded to therapy with Tepmetko, with 40% having a duration of response that lasted a year or longer.

FDA Approves Amtagvi for Pretreated, Advanced Melanoma

On Feb. 16, the FDA approved Amtagvi for patients with advanced melanoma who had previously been treated with an immunotherapy or targeted therapy. Notably, Amtagvi is a cell-based therapy and is actually the first cell-based treatment to be approved in the solid tumor space.

According to trial results that led to the approval, 31.5% of patients responded to therapy. Now this is a pretty exciting number, considering that this heavily pretreated population tends to have low response rates. Not to mention, TIL therapies like Amtagvi — while upfront they require about a three-week hospital stay — may set patients up for years without having to undergo more treatment, according to Dr. Rodabe Amaria from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, who I spoke with after the approval.

Tagrisso Plus Chemo Approved by FDA for EGFR-Mutated NSCLC

In the lung cancer space, we saw the approval of Tagrisso plus platinum-based chemotherapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer whose tumors have EGFR exon 19 deletions or exon 21 L858R mutations.

Findings from the FLAURA 2 trial led to this approval, as data showed that progression-free survival was 25.5 months for patients who received Tagrisso plus chemotherapy, compared to 16.7 months for patients who received Tagrisso alone. Overall survival data is still immature at this point — meaning that the researchers just don’t have enough data to calculate averages — so stay tuned for more on that.

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to 

February brought in multiple FDA approvals in the oncology space. Here’s an overview of some of the most recent ones. 

FDA Approvals from February 2024

The year 2023 has come and gone, and we figured that now is the perfect time to look back on some of the top cancer-related stories from the year.

Vitamin D May Impact Colorectal Cancer Outcomes

In June, we spoke to an expert about research that analyzed 14 studies on vitamin D and colorectal cancer outcomes. Findings showed that people who had a vitamin D deficiency tended to have poorer mortality outcomes than those who supplemented with vitamin D.

Laura Bolte, of the department of gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of Groningen and University Medical Center Groningen, explained that the use of corticosteroids and being underweight or malnourished — which are all things that can happen during cancer treatment — can increase the risk of vitamin D deficiency, so it is essential that patients speak with their health care team to determine if a vitamin D supplement will be appropriate and beneficial to them.

Every now and then, major celebrity news makes cancer headlines. On Sept. 1, “Margaritaville” singer, Jimmy Buffett died of cancer at the age of 76.

Buffett had a rare and aggressive type of skin cancer called Merkel cell carcinoma, which is much more common to spread to other parts of the body, and can be very difficult to treat if it spreads, according to the American Cancer Society.

Shortly after Buffett’s death, we spoke to Dr. Manisha Thakuria, who is the director or Merkel cell carcinoma at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She said, “It's always hard to see any silver linings in losses. I am glad to see Merkel cell having a little bit of a spotlight on it, and I hope that (the media interest) will increase research funding for Merkel cell carcinoma and help more patients,” said Thakuria.

Chemo Drug Shortage Requires a ‘Holistic Solution’

Perhaps one of the biggest headlines in the cancer space from 2023 was the chemotherapy shortage. The shortage of cisplatin and carboplatin required a “holistic solution,” according to Dr. Anjan J. Patel.

In a June article, I spoke with Dr. Patel and other oncology experts about the shortage, what it meant for patients taking these drugs and what was needed from a systemic level to ensure that these types of shortages never happened again.

Patients Using Cannabis Experienced Worse Symptoms, Perceive Less Harm

Patients with cancer who use cannabis reported more severe symptoms and perceived less potential harm from cannabis than patients with cancer who did not use the drug within the last 30 days, according to study findings published this summer.

Findings showed that study participants who used cannabis experienced significantly poorer physical and social functioning as well as higher pain intensity, pain interference, fatigue and sleep disturbances.

“People are using it, we should study it, and we need to know more to be able to guide physicians and cancer patients and survivors as well,” Gregory Giordano of the department of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder told CURE®

From Jimmy Buffett's death to the chemo shortage and cannabis use in cancer care, here is a look back at some of our most popular oncology stories from 2023. 

Top Cancer Headlines from 2023 

The FDA is certainly staying busy as 2023 comes to a close, approving three treatments for patients with cancer last week alone.

Additionally, exciting study findings were released regarding a cancer vaccine for the treatment of melanoma.

FDA Approves Iwilfin for High-Risk Neuroblastoma in Adults and Children

The FDA approved has Iwilfin (eflornithine) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with high-risk neuroblastoma who have shown at least a partial response to a previous multiagent modality therapy, which includes anti-GD2 immunotherapy.

Notably, the FDA reported that this drug is the first approval of a therapy used to reduce the risk of relapse in children with high-risk neuroblastoma. Neuroblastoma, as the National Cancer Institute explained on its website, is a cancer of immature nerve cells that most typically occurs in children, and often begins in the adrenal glands.

The FDA said the major efficacy outcome measure behind the approval was event-free survival (EFS; time after treatment when cancer does not come back or worsen; disease progression), while other notable findings included overall survival (OS; length of time from diagnosis or start of treatment when a patient is still alive).

FDA Approves Welireg for Advanced Kidney Cancer Subtype

The FDA approved Welireg ((beluztifan) for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who have been previously treated with a programmed death receptor-1 (PD-1) or programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor, and a vascular endothelial growth factor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (VEGF-TKI).

The approval was based on findings from the LITESPARK-005 trial. Trial findings presented earlier this year at the European Society of Medical Oncology Annual Congress (ESMO) showed that at a median follow-up of 18.4 months, patients treated with Welireg experienced objective response rates (patients whose disease responded partially or completely to treatment) of 21.9%, compared with 3.5% among patients treated with Afinitor (everolimus), and 12-month progression-free survival (PFS; the time a patient lives without their disease spreading or worsening) rates were 33.7% on Welireg versus 17.6% with Afinitor, and 18-month PFS rates were 22.5% and 9%, respectively.

FDA Approves Padcev-Keytruda Combo in Advanced Bladder Cancer

The FDA has additionally approved Padcev (enfortumab vedotin-ejfv) plus Ketruda (pembrolizumab) for patients with locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer. Alongside this, the FDA previously 

unable to be treated with cisplatin-containing chemotherapy

In the recent EV-302/KN-A39 trial, both OS and PFS showed significant improvements among the Padcev plus Keytruda group of patients, as the median overall survival for these patients was 31.5 months, while a cohort treated with chemotherapy experienced a median OS of 16.1 months.

Regarding progression-free survival, the median was 12.5 months for the Padcev-Keytruda combination group and 6.3 months in the chemotherapy group.

Cancer Vaccine Plus Keytruda Reduces Risk of Recurrence or Death in Melanoma

Patients with advanced-stage melanoma continue to experience reduced risk of recurrence or death following treatment with a combination of mRNA vaccine mRNA-4157 (V940), an investigational individualized neoantigen therapy (INT), and Keytruda, according to recent study findings.

The mRNA-4157 (V940) and Keytruda combination reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 49% and the risk of distant metastasis or death by 62% when compared with treatment with Keytruda alone in patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma with high risk of recurrence following complete resection, as determined by 

 study, according to a news release from drug manufacturers Moderna and Merck.

The latest findings, from a median planned follow-up of approximately three years, build on previously announced primarily analysis data from a median planned follow-up of approximately two years which showed that the combination reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 44% and the risk of distance metastasis or death by 65% when compared with Keytruda alone.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation

 to the combination for the post-surgical treatment of patients with high-risk melanoma earlier this year.

Moderna and Merck have also announced the phase 3 INTerpath-001 (V940-001) clinical trial to evaluate the combination as an adjuvant treatment for patients with resected, high-risk stage 3B to 4 melanoma, which is currently enrolling participants, as well as a phase 3 trial for the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer treated with the combination regimen.

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved treatment for some patients with neuroblastoma, kidney cancer and bladder cancer. Elsewhere, a cancer vaccine made headlines for the treatment of patients with melanoma.

FDA Approves 3 Treatments, Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise

Jeffrey Wittig has spent the last 15 years receiving treatment for several bouts with skin cancer – including cases of squamous cell carcinoma, melanoma and most recently, basal cell carcinoma.

During his cancer journey, Wittig has undergone 41 surgeries to treat his various skin cancers, including large skin grafts, and a complete removal of his nose followed by a surgical reconstruction with a prosthesis.

Wittig, who is currently receiving treatment for recurrent basal cell carcinoma, said his care team recently told him his prognosis is not good and that the aim is to keep the cancer from spreading to his brain for as long as possible. As Wittig begins a new therapy after his previous failed to keep his disease at bay, he says his goal is to focus on his quality of life no matter the outcome.

 Talks Cancer” podcast, Wittig discusses what his journey has been like, as well as his decision to switch to a new therapy once his previous therapy stopped working. He also offers others facing a similar situation advice and chronicles why he’s focused on quality rather than quantity.

“I've told my oncologists and my dermatologist and my radiologists that I'm not really concerned about quantity at this point, you know, but quality,” he said in an interview with 

®. “So, you know, if I've got two years, (then) how can we make this the best two years? So, you know, that's my goal at this point; (it’s) not, you know, to wrap this up with a big bow and call it all good, because I know that's not true.”

For more news on cancer updates, research and education, don’t forget to

For more information on nonmelanoma skin cancer, visit 

AIM at Melanoma

In this episode of the “CURE Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with someone who has undergone 41 surgeries and physically debilitating treatments during his more than 15-year journey with several cases of skin cancer. We discussed his cancer journey, and why, as he starts a new treatment after his most prior therapy failed, he’s focused on quality rather than quantity of life. 

Savoring Every Ounce of Life While Undergoing Treatment for Skin Cancer

The treatment landscape looks bright for patients with skin cancer, especially with the medicine, technology and innovation going on in the space, according to Dr. Jeremy Brauer.

® spoke to Brauer, a spokesperson for the Skin Cancer Foundation, about the current treatment strategies in skin cancer, and how immunotherapy and targeted agents have been a “game-changer” for those with advanced disease.

“Immunotherapy and targeted therapies, more of these are going to be made available to individuals with metastatic melanoma as well as advanced squamous cell carcinoma,” he said, adding that patients should be sure to become educated about their disease and treatment options.

“Knowledge is power. A great resource is your board-certified dermatologist, and also the resources available on reputable web sites like the Skin Cancer Foundation and all of the literature they have available. Within dermatology, there is the American Academy of Dermatology and other societies that are great resources. I do believe it begins with education.”

Skin Cancer Foundation

In this episode of the “CURE Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with Dr. Jeremy Brauer, on behalf of the Skin Cancer Foundation, about current treatment strategies and the future of the disease.

Speaking Out About the Future of Skin Cancer Treatment

 Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with Lainie Jones, who has found her purpose in helping others after being diagnosed with five separate primary cancers before the age of 35.

It all began when Jones was diagnosed with adrenal cancer as an infant. Since then, she has come face-to-face with five separate cancers before the age of 35: breast cancer at 24, melanoma at 25, thyroid cancer at 26, and most recently sarcoma. In her search for answers, Jones discovered she has Li-Fraumeni syndrome, a rare genetic condition that predisposes her to develop the disease and affects just 500 individuals in the United States.

Now cancer-free, Jones has turned her experience into a positive by sharing her story and helping others.  

In this week’s episode of the “CURE Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with Lainie Jones, who has found her purpose in helping others after being diagnosed with five separate primary cancers before the age of 35 because of a rare genetic condition that predisposes her to develop the disease.
 

Finding Purpose After Five Different Cancers

Many have grown up in the sun without ever really thinking of the long-term, and at the time unknown, consequences from such exposure - namely skin cancer.

Ron Manilof, someone who grew up on the Long Island beaches, was diagnosed with skin cancer in his 30’s - a disease that has recurred multiple times over the following 30 years of his life.

Most recently, in October 2018, while recuperating from a skin graft that he had received only weeks earlier as treatment for yet another 

, Ron realized his condition was more serious: Tumors had nearly covered the top of his head, had raised and were painful to the touch. Just one month later, he was diagnosed with advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.

Ron found hope in learning that less invasive treatment options were available to him and now wants people like him, who have experienced multiple skin cancers, to investigate all forms of treatment available because there may be alternatives.

His biggest piece of advice for others: Listen to your mother about skin cancer prevention!

In this week’s episode of the “CURE Talks Cancer” podcast, we spoke with a skin cancer survivor who has dealt with many recurrences over the last 30 years and tells others to “listen to your mother” and protect your skin from the sun.

Skin Cancer

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