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The Seventh Annual UNC Conference on Melanoma: A
Multidisciplinary Perspective for Health Care Providers
This
conference will be held on Thursday, February 16, 2012 from 8:00
a.m. - 4:20 p.m. at the William and Ida Friday Center for
Continuing Education. It will provide the latest information on
diagnosing and treating melanoma and aggressive non-melanoma skin
cancers with a focus on:
- scientific evidence
for sunscreens;
- clinical dilemmas
with diagnosing difficult melanocytic lesions;
- surgical issues
when treating melanoma and merkel cell cancers;
- the tanning bed
controversy as viewed by a North Carolina lawmaker; and
- the current role of
systemic therapy in the melanoma patient with metastatic
disease.
To
register online to attend the Conference on Melanoma, click here. All registrations
must be received by February 3, 2012. For more information, view the conference brochure.
Dan
Zedek, MD, will discuss "Pigmented Lesions of the Nail"
at the conference for health care providers.
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Latest in
Treatment and Support Focus of Melanoma Patient Day
Participants
will hear from melanoma experts on a number of topics, from
sunscreen use and indoor tanning to the latest clinical trials and
treatments.
The
symposium will be held on Wednesday, February 15, 2012 from 12:30 -
4:30 p.m. at the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing
Education.
Registration
is free and is required by February 3, 2012. To register to attend
the Melanoma Patient Day, click here or call
800-673-1290. For additional information, view the symposium brochure.
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Nancy
Thomas, MD, PhD, will discuss "Diagnosis of 'Pink'
(Amelanotic) Melanoma" at the Melanoma Patient Day Symposium
and "Clinical Features of BRAF and NRAS Mutant Melanomas"
at the conference for health care providers.
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P Rex-1
protein key to melanoma metastasis
The team
found that mice lacking the P-Rex1 protein are resistant to
melanoma metastases. When researchers tested human melanoma
cells and tumor tissue for the protein, P-Rex1 was elevated in the
majority of cases – a clue that the protein plays an important role
in the cancer’s spread.
“Pinpointing that P-Rex1 plays a key role in metastasis gives us a
better understanding of how vemurafenib may work and a target for
developing new treatments,” says Nancy Thomas, MD, PhD, a professor
of dermatology and member of UNC Lineberger. Read more.
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Multidisciplinary
research urged for optimal melanoma surgery
In
recent editorial published in The Lancet, UNC Lineberger
member David Ollila, MD, and co-author John Thompson, MD, of the
Melanoma Institute Australia, praise a new study on optimal margins
for melanoma surgery but urge researchers to bring new molecular
and genetic techniques to bear on the question of how to minimize
the need for more complex surgical techniques while maximizing
long-term patient survival.
Dr.
Ollila is a professor in the division of surgical oncology at
UNC-Chapel Hill. He just returned from the University of
Sydney (Australia) and the Melanoma Institute Australia where he
was a visiting scholar for six months. Read more.
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