Tag: Research
Introducing Clinical Trial Navigator: Start Searching Today
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 5 December 2017 In Allies & Partnerships, News, Science, Treatment
At MRA, we know that advancing science is our best bet in the fight against melanoma. More than 87,000 people in the US will be diagnosed with melanoma this year, and with these numbers on the rise, researchers are working harder than ever to find new and better treatment options. In fact, there are over 300 clinical trials happening in melanoma right now.
Connecting the Dots – Clinical Trials and Patient Engagement
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 15 November 2017 In Allies & Partnerships, Melanoma Stories, News
MRA is thrilled to announce the launch of the Melanoma > Exchange, a melanoma treatment and research focused discussion group and support community. Through the Melanoma > Exchange, anyone touched by Melanoma can find support, ask questions, and build community among people who share a similar experience.
“Hands down, I’m alive today because of clinical trials”
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 15 November 2017 In Melanoma Stories, Science
Jamie Goldfarb didn’t think of herself as having cancer. Yes, she had been diagnosed with Stage II melanoma four years earlier and Stage III the following year, but the surgeries to remove it had been successful. The PET scans that followed had been normal. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Jamie was now a tired new mom with an eleven-week old baby and she was ready to get back to work. But, her world would turn upside down when she learned that not only was melanoma back, but it had progressed to Stage IV and spread to her liver and pancreas.
‘Practice Changing’ Results Hint at New Adjuvant Therapy Treatment Options
30 September 2017 In Treatment
Adjuvant treatment is used in addition to tumor removal e.g. via surgery or radiotherapy to help delay or prevent the recurrence of melanoma. It is often recommended for high-risk melanoma (defined as melanoma deeper or thicker than 4mm thick at the primary site or involves nearby lymph nodes). Approved adjuvant therapies in melanoma include interferon and, more recently, ipilimumab. But neither of these approaches is wholly satisfying since relatively few patients appear to benefit and side-effects are a major factor.
Doubling Down: Brandon Barniea Bets Big on Combination Therapy
By Cody Barnett, MPH, MRA Senior Director of Communications & Patient Engagement | 6 September 2017 In Melanoma Stories, Treatment
Brandon Barniea didn’t believe he needed to visit doctors. The athletic 35-year-old had always been healthy – even when his wife and two kids were sick at home with the flu, he would miraculously avoid falling ill. So, when he found what felt like “beads” in his neck, reality came crashing in; following a biopsy, he was diagnosed first with stage III melanoma in August 2015 and later that year it progressed to stage IV.
Melanoma Research Alliance and the American Cancer Society Forge Research Partnership to Maximize Immunotherapy Benefit to Patients
By Pamela Goldsmith, MRA Director of Communications | 10 July 2017 In Allies & Partnerships, Science
The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA) and the American Cancer Society (ACS) are partnering to fund much-needed research aimed at decreasing rare, but serious, side effects associated with checkpoint inhibitors in hopes of increasing further cancer immunotherapy benefit to patients.
The Genetics of Melanoma Goes Deep
By Kristen Mueller, PhD | 6 June 2017 In News, Science, Treatment
Due to the rapid advancements in DNA sequencing technologies, our understanding of the underlying genetic causes of cancer has increased substantially in the past decade. In the case of melanoma, researchers have now characterized in great detail the genetic changes that occur within tumor cells in melanoma of the skin, leading to the FDA approval of drugs targeting mutations in BRAF and MEK.
LFFM Fundraising Event Again Reaches a Record Setting Year
By Pamela Goldsmith, MRA Director of Communications | 6 June 2017 In Allies & Partnerships, Events
Nearly 1,000 professionals from the leveraged finance community gathered for the sixth annual Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) benefit and cocktail party raising a record $1.8 million in funds for the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the largest private funder of melanoma research.