Current Research

Research for melanoma is ongoing. The following advances may still be under investigation in clinical trials and may not be approved or available at this time. Always discuss all prevention, diagnostic, and treatment options with your doctor.

Enhanced prevention and early detection methods. Both primary prevention (keeping melanoma from developing) and secondary prevention (early detection of melanoma) are important. One promising area is the screening of people with a high-risk of developing melanoma. A melanoma risk calculator has been developed for use by health-care professionals to estimate a person’s five-year risk of melanoma. This risk calculator needs to be tested in other groups of patients to confirm its effectiveness. Other tools being used for early detection of melanoma include epilluminescence microscopy or dermoscopy, which evaluates patterns of size, shape, and pigmentation in pigmented skin lesions. Among trained, experienced examiners, the use of dermoscopy may reduce the number of biopsies of pigmented lesions to rule out melanoma, although more research is needed. Another new technology to better examine possible melanoma lesions is called confocal scanning laser microscopy, but this is only available in a few major facilities.

Vaccines. Vaccines aim to stimulate the body's own defenses to destroy melanoma cancer cells. Research has shown that vaccination can cause the immune system to fight melanoma, even in advanced disease, but these therapies are still considered experimental.

Chemotherapy. There are several new types of chemotherapy and combinations of drugs being evaluated in clinical trials.

Gene therapy. Gene therapy is a targeted form of treatment that is able to change bits of genetic code in a person's cells. Although gene therapy is relatively new, it shows potential for treating melanoma. Although there are several approaches to gene therapy, one goal is to make the cancer cells "look" different, so the immune system can recognize them as cancer and attack them.

Targeted therapy. Targeted therapy is a treatment that targets faulty genes or proteins that contribute to cancer growth and development. Targeted therapies are already available for some cancers, and research is underway to determine how this approach may be useful in treating melanoma.