Join us for a FREE Skin Cancer Prevention Conference

Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center invites you and your loved ones to attend CANPrevent Skin Cancer, a free educational conference for anyone interested in learning about preventing skin cancer.

CANPrevent Skin Cancer is designed to address the personal and medical issues facing those at risk for skin cancer. The conference provides patient-focused information about the latest advances in skin cancer risk, screening and prevention.

Who Should Attend

Anyone interested in learning about skin cancer and its prevention - especially those with:

• Natural blond or red hair color
• Presence of atypical or numerous moles
• Sun sensitivity (easily burns, difficulty tanning)
• History of excessive sun exposure, including sunburns
• History of using tanning booths
• History of diseases that suppress the immune system
• Personal or family history of melanoma, basal cell or squamous cell skin cancers

Join Us

Time: 8 to 11 am
Date: Friday, May 16, 2014
Location: Hilton Hotel located at 4200 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
Registration: Register here call 800-789-PENN (7366)
Cost: FREE

Get the facts on skin cancer and melanoma risk, prevention and screening – they could save your life or the life of someone you know.

Unable to Attend?

Follow Penn Medicine on Twitter for event information before the conference date, and live tweeting throughout the conference with the hashtag #SkinCancerACC. 

Please “re-tweet” and share Penn Medicine's messages about skin cancer prevention and awareness with your followers.

FREE Skin Cancer Screening

Have your skin checked by a Penn dermatologist to determine your risk for developing skin cancer.

Date: Saturday, May 17, 2014
Location: Smilow Center for Research, attached to the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine (PCAM)

Appointments are necessary and space is limited.

Call 215- 662- 2737 to make your reservation.

Read More

Join Us For a FREE Melanoma Conference

Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center invites patients, family members and anyone interested in learning about melanoma risk, prevention, diagnosis and treatment to attend Focus On Melanoma.

Focus On Melanoma is a free educational conference featuring a keynote address by Singer/Songwriter and Survivor,  Charlie Lustman, 

Penn’s Focus On Melanoma Conference addresses the personal and medical issues facing people with melanoma including those in treatment, survivors, their loved ones, relatives and caregivers.

The conference provides patient-focused information on the latest advances in melanoma risk, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, symptom management and psychosocial issues. It is also an opportunity to network and gain support from other melanoma patients and survivors.

Who Should Attend

• People newly diagnosed with melanoma
• Those at risk for melanoma
• Melanoma survivors
• Family members, caregivers or health care providers of melanoma patients/survivors
• Those diagnosed with a pigmented lesion and their family members/caregivers

Join Us

Time: 8 am to 3 pm
Date: Friday May 16, 2014
Location: Hilton Hotel located at 4200 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
Registration: Register here or call 800-789-PENN (7366)
Cost: FREE

Unable to Attend?

If you are unable to attend in person, follow Penn Medicine on Twitter for event information before the conference date, and live tweeting throughout the conference with the hashtag #MelanomaACC.

FREE Skin Cancer Screening

Have your skin checked by a Penn dermatologist to determine your risk for developing skin cancer.
Date: Saturday, May 17, 2014
Location: Smilow Center for Research (attached to the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine- PCAM)
 
Appointments are necessary and space is limited.

Call 215- 662- 2737 to make your reservation.

Read More

I Was Given Four Months To Live…More Than Three Years Ago

Jules B. Rauch, III, was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma in 2004. Since then, his cancer has come and gone – but always came back with a vengeance. In 2010, he was told he had four months to live, but a clinical trial at the Abramson Cancer Center gave him hope to find his cure within.

My health challenges began in 2004 at the age of 67. I was being treated for prostate cancer in Florida, and the nurse recommended I have the small, deep red spot on my forehead checked out.

I did, and the diagnosis was stage 4 melanoma.

I had the spot removed just before Christmas of that year. Four years later, two small lumps appeared in front of my left ear. A biopsy and full body CT/PET scan confirmed the melanoma had returned and that year on November 11, 2008, I had a left parotidectomy and 26 lymph nodes were removed in the process. Thirty-three radiation treatments later, and I was back on the road to recovery.

Unfortunately, in July 2009, another scan showed the cancer had returned – this time, it had spread to the left parotid area and a re-excision was required. Also, it had spread to my right shoulder - and this was radiated (no surgery). Nine months later, the cancer had moved again into my back, which was also radiated.

Despite all of my medical treatments and issues, I never stopped fishing, golfing and exercising my Labrador Retriever. Of course, my medical treatments were serious, but I never wanted them to interfere with my lifestyle. My wife, Beverly, and I maintained our schedule of spending 4 to 5 months in Cape May, and the rest of the year in Florida.

I wasn’t going to give in.

But when a scan in June 2010 showed metastatic melanoma – and it spread to my right shoulder, more in my backbone and both lungs, I was given four months to live. My only option was to quickly get into a clinical trial with a drug called Ipilimumab. We were in Cape May, and I was referred to the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Days later, I found myself in the office of Lynn Schuchter, MD, chief of the division of hematology/oncology. I told her, “I’m not ready to die,” and hoped to be included in her trial. I was accepted, and began the course of treatment – four infusions, one hour each for four weeks.

That October, only a few months later, another CT/PET scan revealed all the cancer was gone.

It was like being reborn. I had another opportunity on life.

No Cancer Has Returned

Since then, in these past three years, all of screenings are negative and show no cancer has returned. None. Dr. Schuchter tells me I’m her “poster boy” for clinical trials and at 76 years old, I could not be more proud to have her as my doctor.

The gratitude, appreciation and outstanding medical and emotional care I’ve received at the Abramson Cancer Center from Dr. Schuchter, and her team cannot be put into words. Their professionalism and generosity has given me and many others the opportunity of life.

Of course, nothing could have been possible without the support of my wife and caregiver, Beverly, and our supporting friends and family. Together with the Abramson Cancer Center, their faith and prayers helped me in my positive fight against cancer.

Watch Jules tell his story and learn more
about the exciting things happening at the Abramson Cancer Center.
Visit theCureIsWithin.com today.

Read More

Center for Personalized Diagnostic Medicine Brings Next Generation of Sequencing to Melanoma Screening

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2013- Focus Melanoma and CAN Prevent Skin Cancer Conferences. In this blog, she discusses personalized medicine and melanoma.

Dr. David Elder, MD, a pathologist noted that the newly formed Penn Center for Personalized Diagnostic Medicine will utilize a new gene panel that screens for 41 different gene mutations that can be found in malignant melanomas. This next generation screening can be done with a smaller amount of DNA than the more limited gene screening techniques required in the past. This is significant because it will allow doctors to use new therapies at earlier stages of the disease, focusing on patients who are at high risk for recurrence rather than waiting for the melanoma to metastasize and treating it a more advanced stage.

The Center for Personalized Diagnostics (CPD), a joint initiative by Penn Medicine's Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the Abramson Cancer Center, integrates Molecular Genetics, Pathology Informatics, and Genomic Pathology for individualized patient diagnoses and to elucidate cancer treatment options for physicians.

The focus of the CPD's initial efforts has been toward developing two cancer gene sequencing panels: a custom hematologic malignancy panel and a solid tumor panel. The primary targets will include leukemia, and solid tumors, beginning with brain, melanoma, and lung tumors. The goal is to identify genomic alterations that allow clinicians to design and implement optimal treatment plans.

Read More

Advances in Personalized Therapies for Melanoma

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2013- Focus Melanoma and CAN Prevent Skin Cancer Conferences. In this blog, she discusses advances in personalized therapy for melanoma patients.

Anyone who has attended all 10 of the Focus on Melanoma Conferences appreciates how much progress has been made in treating this disease over that span of time.

Paul Chapman, MD

In his keynote address, Paul Chapman, MD, of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center noted that in the 20th century—which somehow seems a long time ago—the five-year survival rate for patients with stage IV melanoma was 10 to 30 percent. That dismal picture began to change at the beginning of this century with the introduction of targeted therapies, notably vemurafenib and other agents that block the over expression of the BRAF gene, a mutation found in approximately 50% of melanoma patients.

The excitement surrounding these new therapies was tempered by the fact that over half of advanced melanoma patients did not benefit from them—and those that did often had responses that lasted an average of seven months as the melanoma became resistant and recurred.

A Change in Direction for Melanoma Research

In the last few years, the goal for researchers has been twofold:

• To find targeted agents that block other pathways that allow melanoma cells to grow and proliferate. These pathways can be either those that are activated when the tumor becomes resistant to the BRAF inhibitor—or parallel pathways found in patients who do not have the BRAF mutation.
• To find ways of activating the immune system to identify and fight melanoma cells.

Researchers have known for some time that melanomas are able to disable or even co-opt the body’s immune system to help the abnormal cells grow. One of the major advances in treating melanoma has been the introduction of ipilumimab—a targeted agent that activates T-cells to fight the cancer rather than affecting the tumor directly. For some patients, “ipi” has made an amazing difference.

Approximately 12 to 15 percent of these patients have a complete response to the treatment.

These patients rarely relapse and are considered cured. Others have long term progression free responses, but their disease returns.

The success of “ipi” has led to research to find other drugs that will activate the immune system to seek out and destroy melanomas. Phase I trials of anti-PD-1, an antibody that has been shown to shrink metastatic melanoma tumors are complete, and a phase III randomized trial to compare “ipi” with antiPD-1 or a combination of both agents will start soon.

Chapman summarized by saying:

• All melanomas should be checked for gene mutations
• Resistance is the key—but research is yielding new insights into the mechanisms of resistance, and with it, hope for improved therapies to overcome this problem.
• Several immunotherapy drugs are now in the development pipeline.
• New drug combinations, and new drug schedules are emerging, promising that the progress against melanoma will continue to be rapid and dramatic.

Penn Medicine's Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion Program was among the first in the country to provide information, evaluation, and genetic counseling for those at increased risk for melanoma and to create a model for melanoma screening. Learn more about Melanoma treatment and care at Penn Medicine.

Read More

A New Treatment for Lymphedema at Penn Medicine {Video}

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2013- Focus Melanoma and CAN Prevent Skin Cancer Conferences. In this blog, she discusses new treatments for lymphedema.

Melanoma patients who undergo lymph node dissection have a 20 to 30 percent chance of developing lymphedema—a condition in which damaged or missing lymph nodes can no longer move fluid through the tissue. The fluid backs up and causes swelling, pain, decreased movement and increases the risk of infection and cellulitis. While many patients have their lymphedema managed effectively with physical therapy and appropriate pressure garments, others do not respond to these interventions and can suffer from significant functional and cosmetic problems.

Suhail Kanchwala, MD, described an innovative procedure developed in Europe that involves taking lymph nodes from areas of the patient’s own body, such as the groin or abdomen, and transferring them to the damaged area. The team identifies lymph nodes that are surrounded by a blood supply—an artery or vein and then transplants them as a unit to the patient.

The best candidates for this procedure are patients who have:

• No evidence of any cancer
• Whose lymphedema was caused by surgery
• Who have failed other, more conservative treatment for their lymphedema
• Who have had multiple episodes of cellulitis and severe lymphedema

The technique can be used for both upper and lower extremity lymphedema, and has proven an effective treatment for patients with breast cancer as well as melanoma.

Watch this interview with Dr. Kanchwaala, plastic surgeon and director of the Surgical Lymphedema Program at Penn Medicine, discuss an innovative new surgical treatment for lymphedema after cancer care.

Read More

“A Firestorm of Progress”—The Road from Bench to Bedside

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2013- Focus Melanoma and CAN Prevent Skin Cancer Conferences. In this blog, she discusses advances in melanoma research. 


The Wistar Institute is an independent research institution that has made remarkable contributions to science in its long history—especially in the fields of vaccines, cancer, and specifically melanoma. The collaboration between Wistar’s Melanoma Program, directed by Dr. Herlyn and Penn’s outstanding Melanoma Research Progam, along with the clinical team at Penn has lasted more than 25 years and significantly advanced the understanding and treatment of melanoma, and other diseases.

Focus on Melanoma Conference attendees in a session.

Dr. Herlyn’s goal is to understand the exact mechanisms that cause a normal skin cell to become malignant and grow into a melanoma.

“There are still some open questions,” he notes as to which cell in human skin actually undergoes that transformation. Melanomas arise in cells called melanocytes, but there remains some “scientific quirkiness” about which sub-population of these cells produce melanomas, and whether they may be age-related differences in the process. It has recently been demonstrated that older people have populations of pigment producing cells that can revert back to stem cells—or cells that have the potential to differentiate into a completely different kind of cell.

One of Dr. Herlyn’s interests is in understanding how these cells function normally and what their role is in causing melanomas.

What Makes Melanoma Cells Different?

The answers are not easily obtained. Melanoma cells behave very differently than normal cells in many ways.
They can:

• Grow without aging
• Control all the normal cells in their environment
• Invade almost any organ
• Stay hidden for years without growing, remaining dormant
• Produce their own hormones and flourish for years on a diet that would kill a normal cell in a day or two.

Each of these factors poses challenges to researchers seeking better approaches to melanoma diagnosis and treatment. Researchers now know that melanomas are heterogeneous, meaning that all not melanomas are the same, and that not all cells within a melanoma are the same. They are also learning much more about what Herlyn calls “the complex rewiring of resistant tumors,” the process by which melanomas evolve so that they are no longer responsive to previously effective treatments.

As difficult as these problems have proved in the past, Herlyn now believes that “we know the strategies, or we think we do,” and that with the rights kinds of teams and partnerships working on the problem, that “his hope and expectation is that there will be a cure for melanoma within five years—because we know so much more now.”

Penn Medicine's Melanoma and Pigmented Lesion
Program was among the first in the country to provide information,
evaluation, and genetic counseling for those at increased risk for melanoma
and to create a model for melanoma screening.
Learn more about melanoma treatment and care at Penn Medicine.

Read More

What Does Skin Cancer Look Like? {and what you need to know about melanoma}

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2013- Focus Melanoma and CAN Prevent Skin Cancer Conferences. In this blog, she discusses "What Does Skin Cancer Look Like?" and melanoma prevention basics.

For most of the people attending Focus on Melanoma, the most important information pertains to advances in treatment, but for many others, it is critical to know how to prevent skin cancers and detect them early when they do occur.

Emily Chu, MD, PhD, noted that of the three most common types of skin cancer—basal cell,
squamous cell and melanoma—that melanoma is the least frequent but most dangerous. Over 80 percent of all melanomas are detected by either the patients themselves or their partners, which makes awareness of risk factors and warning signs very important.

Who is at risk for melanoma?

• Certain people are at greater risk for skin cancer and melanoma than others.
• Individuals who are fair skinned.
• Anyone with a first degree relative who has had a melanoma
• Anyone who has a personal history of melanoma
• People who have multiple moles—often in the hundreds
• People who have a history of blistering sunburns in childhood
• People who have a history of chronic sun exposure

While these factors may increase the risk of melanoma, it is also important to remember that anyone can get skin cancer, even dark skinned people of color, and that having a risk factor does not mean that you will get the disease.

What Does Skin Cancer Look Like?

Dr. Chu explained the ABCDE system that doctors commonly use to describe “worrisome” moles.

• A is for asymmetry. If you could fold the mole over on itself, the two halves would not be the same size or shape.
• B is for borders. Melanomas often have very irregular borders.
• C is for color. Melanomas are often darker than other moles and have different colors in different parts of the mole.
• D is for diameter. Melanomas are often—but not always—larger than other moles.
• E is for evolving. Melanomas often change their size or appearance.

Dr. Chu urged people, especially those with multiple moles, to “look for the ugly duckling,” the mole that is different or changes or is new.

She also encouraged people with large numbers of moles who might have difficulty detecting “ugly ducklings” to take advantage of whole body photography which can help document the moles that are present and increase the probability of finding new or evolving moles.

Breaking the Habit for Healthy Skin

Neal Nizman followed Dr. Chu’s talk by exploring the reasons why people don’t do the things that they know will reduce their chance of getting skin cancer.

These include:

• Checking your skin once a month
• Seeing a dermatologist annually
• Using sunscreen—enough, the right kind and often enough—to be effective
• Wearing protective clothing

The answers are relatively simple. Humans are creatures of habit. We are moving too fast, or are too busy to take even simple precautions. We don’t think that bad things will happen to us. When it comes to preventing and detecting melanoma, however, it pays to be a little more mindful and take the extra precautions. The best approach to melanoma is prevention—and the most effective treatment when it does occur is for early disease.

NOTE: To be effective, sunscreens should be broad spectrum, at least SPF 15 and waterproof. It also needs to be applied to all exposed areas of the skin and repeated approximately every two hours or after swimming.

Follow us on Twitter at @PennMedicine and tell us what you’re doing to protect your skin this summer!

Read More

A Toast to Hope and Progress at the 10th Annual Focus on Melanoma Conference

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2013- Focus Melanoma and CAN Prevent Skin Cancer Conferences. In this blog, she discusses advances in melanoma treatment and research.

Lynn Schuchter, MD, had to delay her presentation, ”10 Years, Reflections on the Journey,” while The Broad Street Line, a men’s a cappella group from Temple University, began serenading the conference chair and program leader for Penn’s Melanoma Program with their version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.



No song, and no moment, could have better captured the tone, and the content of the May 17th conference, which brought together over 350 patients and family members to hear Dr. Schuchter and her colleagues discuss the extraordinary progress that has been made against melanoma in the last few years.

Schuchter used the familiar computer keyboard to frame her presentation:

• The Home Key—Because Penn is a home to its patients and to the people who care for them.
• The Shift Key—To denote the “seismic change” in how melanoma is treated, especially the shift away from one treatment fits all approach to one that is far more individualized and targeted.
• The Delete Key—To delete cancer, and melanoma
• The ALT Key—Dr. Schuchter called for better, more clear cut answers to the questions that patients ask about how they can incorporate alternative therapies and help themselves to stay healthy.
• The End—To acknowledge that melanoma still takes an enormous toll, and that many people still lose their battle to this disease. Schuchter stressed that, while pain remains part of the journey, that she and the Penn staff view taking care of melanoma patients as “an enormous privilege.”
• The Asterisk—For the many unexpected things, “the miracles that happen every day,” the people who come to Penn with advanced disease and are cancer free today.
• The “F” Keys—Because as Dr. Schuchter said, “I have no idea what these are about, and in melanoma, we have a lot of important clues, but we don’t yet know what they mean.”
• The Power Button—Because “we all have so much more power to control this disease.”
• The Hope Button—A new key, for the hope that everyone shares.

Dr. Schuchter concluded her presentation by showing the video Fire with Fire, highlighting the remarkable new approach to immunotherapy that Penn has pioneered with leukemia patients, and will soon begin using in clinical trials for melanoma patients.

Watch the Fire with Fire video below.


The conference ended with a standing ovation for Dr. Schuchter, the Penn melanoma team and the patients and caregivers who were there, along with a special “toast” of sparkling cider and a 10th year anniversary cake.

Read More

How Much Sunscreen Should I Use?

At the 10th Annual Focus on Melanoma Conference, Penn Dermatologist Chris Miller, MD, said, “If you haven’t gone through a bottle of sunscreen throughout the summer season, you didn’t use enough sunscreen.”

Right now, the beginning of the summer, is a great time to refresh your knowledge about SPF, sunscreen and how to apply sunscreen correctly.

What is SPF?

The Sun Protection Factor (SPF) displayed on the sunscreen label ranges from 2 to as high as 50 and refers to the product's ability to screen or block out the sun's harmful rays. For example, if you use a sunscreen with an SPF 15, you can be in the sun 15 times longer that you can without sunscreen before burning.

What SPF should I choose?

It’s recommended you use a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or greater for all skin types, year-round. Those with fair skin should choose a sunscreen with a higher SPF. It’s also important to choose a “broad-spectrum” sunscreen that protects against UVB and UVA radiation. Sunscreen that is waterproof or water-resistant is important if you will be sweating or participating in water activities.

How much sunscreen do I need? Where should I apply it?

You should apply sunscreen to all areas of the body that will be exposed to the sun for more than 20 minutes at a time. One ounce should be able to cover your entire body. Today, most facial moisturizers contain sunscreen and can be worn under makeup. It’s important to use sunscreen year-round (even in the winter), and in all types of weather as the sun’s rays can penetrate clouds.

It’s also important to remember to apply sunscreen to the ears, feet (if bare feet or wearing sandals), and on the hands. Chap stick with SPF is also great protection for the lips.

How often should I apply sunscreen?

Sunscreen should be applied in the morning, and reapplied after swimming or perspiring heavily. Sunscreen begins to lose its effectiveness after 80 minutes in the water, so make sure to reapply once you have towel-dried.

Read More

Penn Physician Gets Serenaded by Broad Street Line

Chief of Hematology/Oncology at Penn Medicine Lynn Schuchter, MD, was serenaded by The Broad Street Line, a men’s a cappella group from Temple University, at the 10th Focus On Melanoma Conference.

The group surprised her as they began singing and coming on stage while seated in the audience for the conference. They sang “Over the Rainbow” and “All My Life” to Dr. Schuchter, who watched (and danced) alongside the group.

Watch the Broad Street Line’s performance below.



Penn’s Focus On Melanoma Conference addresses the personal and medical issues people with melanoma face including those in treatment, survivors, their loved ones, relatives and caregivers.

The conference provides patient-focused information on the latest advances in melanoma risk, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, symptom management and psychosocial issues. It is also an opportunity to network and gain support from other melanoma patients and survivors.

Watch videos from the melanoma conference and other cancer related content here.

Read More

May Awareness Month: Brain Cancer, Melanoma, and Skin Cancer

May is brain, melanoma, and skin cancer awareness month. Be sure to subscribe to the Focus On Cancer blog and like the Abramson Cancer Center Facebook page for more information on brain, Melanoma, and skin cancer throughout the entire month.

At a Glance: Brain Cancer

• Brain cancer is an umbrella term for several different forms of cancer, including tumors and metastases.
• About 2 percent of all newly diagnosed adult cancers are brain cancer; the average age of patients with brain cancer is 50.
• Exposure to radiation has been linked to certain types of brain tumors.

Learn more about the treatment for brain cancer at the from the 2012 Focus On Brain Cancer Conference. 

Learn more about proton therapy for brain cancer at the Roberts Proton Therapy Center. 

At a Glance: Melanoma and Skin Cancer

• Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer. While it is mostly found on the skin, it can also be seen on a person’s nail beds, feet, scalp, eyes and mucosa surfaces (anal canal, rectum, and vagina).
• Moles that change in size, color, or border shape, or begin to itch or sting can be warning signs of melanoma and should be carefully monitored by your doctor.
• Risk factors for melanoma and skin cancer include fair complexion, history of sunburns and/or prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light, multiple moles, age, and family history of skin cancer and melanoma.
• The best prevention methods for skin cancer are avoiding sun exposure during peak hours (10 am to 4 pm) and wearing sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or more every day, even in winter.

Learn more about the treatment for melanoma and skin cancer at the Abramson Cancer Center.

Read More

Save the Date: Free Melanoma Conference

Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center invites patients, family members and anyone interested in learning about melanoma risk, prevention, diagnosis and treatment to attend Focus On Melanoma.

Focus On Melanoma is a free educational conference featuring a keynote address by Paul B. Chapman, MD, and Marisa Weiss, MD.

Penn’s Focus On Melanoma Conference addresses the personal and medical issues facing people with melanoma including those in treatment, survivors, their loved ones, relatives and caregivers.

The conference provides patient-focused information on the latest advances in melanoma risk, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, symptom management and psychosocial issues. It is also an opportunity to network and gain support from other melanoma patients and survivors.

Who Should Attend

• People newly diagnosed with melanoma
• Those at risk for melanoma
• Melanoma survivors
• Family members, caregivers or health care providers of melanoma patients/survivors
• Those diagnosed with a pigmented lesion and their family members/caregivers

Join Us

Time: 7:30 am to 3 pm
Date: Friday May 18, 2012
Location: Hilton Hotel located at 4200 City Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
Registration: Register here or call 800-789-PENN (7366)
Cost: FREE

Unable to Attend?

If you are unable to attend in person, follow Penn Medicine on Twitter for event information before the conference date, and live tweeting throughout the conference with the hashtag #MelanomaACC.

FREE Skin Cancer Screening

Have your skin checked by a Penn dermatologist to determine your risk for developing skin cancer.

Date: Saturday, May 18, 2013

Appointments are necessary and space is limited.

Call 215- 662- 2737 to make your reservation.

Read More

Check Your Skin... With an App?

Would you trust an app on your smartphone to check your skin and diagnosis melanoma? New smartphone applications aimed at non-clinical users claim they can determine if a skin lesion, or mole, is cancerous when the user takes a photo of the lesion with their phone and uploads it to the app.

Dermatologists say "don't."

Applications do note a disclaimer, saying the app is for educational purposes only, but as Assistant Professor of Dermatology Chris Miller, MD, says, apps that claim to diagnose can lead patients down a dangerous path.

"There is a difference between surveillance and self-diagnosis," says Dr. Miller. "If a smartphone application incorrectly determines a mole or lesion is benign [or unconcerning], that patient may not follow up with the proper specialist."

Dr. Miller says that's dangerous because if it really is a lesion that's cause for concern, this may prevent or delay the patient from receiving proper care. Also, the app will not take into account a person's medical history, which may be very pertinent.

In fact, a recent study found 3 out of 4 applications tested in the study misclassified at least 30% of melanomas as "unconcerning."

Just 1 application, which sent user images to an actual doctor for review, was highly accurate, correctly diagnosing 98% of melanomas.

"The best thing to do is make an appointment with a dermatologist to determine if the lesion needs a biopsy or treatment," says Dr. Miller. "Apps like this might be good educational tools, but an in-office visit is always preferred."

Apps available as tools for health screenings are good reminders about the things we should be monitoring, but they do not take the place of regular visits with your health care provider.

How to Check Your Skin for Skin Cancer

It is never too early to check your skin for skin cancer.

Take a few minutes to look at yourself in a full-length mirror and use a handheld to visualize areas hard to see. You should be familiar with the moles and freckles on your body.

Take note of anything that is changing in size, shape, or color. Also watch for pink shiny or scaly lesions that may bleed easily and don't heal.

Save the Date: Skin Cancer Screening at Penn Medicine

Save the date Saturday, May 18 for a free skin cancer screening at Penn Medicine. 

Date: Saturday, May 18

Location: Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, 3400 Civic Center Blvd, 1st Floor-Suite 330S, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Read More

What Ocular Melanoma - Melanoma in the Eye?

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2012 Focus On Melanoma Conference In this blog, she recaps the conference. You can view the conference in its entirety, including presentations here.

What is Ocular Melanoma?

There are 2500 new cases a year of ocular, or uveal melanomas. These rare tumors occur in the pigmented portions of the eye, which include the iris, and choroid and ciliary body, together called the uvea.

Ocular melanoma is more common in fair-skinned, blue-eyed people.

Ocular melanomas that affect the iris are very visible and are generally detected early. However, we can't see our own uvea. As a result, these tumors are often found during routine eye examinations or when a person notices a strange dark spot in their vision.

Ocular melanomas are slow growing tumors, and the goal of therapy is usually to treat them effectively while preserving vision. Primary treatment is a form or radiation therapy using a flap technique or protons. New information about the genetic mutations found in ocular melanomas has opened the doors to treating metastatic disease with the same targeted therapies used to treat other melanomas.

Read More

Fox 29’s Dr. Mike Cirigliano Tells the Audience to Focus on Staying Healthy

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2012 Focus On Melanoma Conference In this blog, she recaps the conference. You can view the conference in its entirety, including presentations here.

In addition to running a very busy internal medicine practice at the University of Pennsylvania, Mike Cirigliano, MD, also appears regularly on Fox 29 Philadelphia as Dr. Mike.

At a recent Focus On Melanoma conference, he added his strong voice to the growing sentiment that the best approach to a better health care system is a healthier lifestyle for most Americans.

Dr. Mike kept it simple, and often humorous, in his talk. He pointed to not smoking, getting enough sleep, getting exercise, and maintaining a normal body weight as the most effective and obvious ways to stay healthy, feel good and reduce health care costs.

The chronic diseases that negatively impact our health and raise our health care costs are all heavily impacted by our behaviors. These include diabetes, heart disease and hypertension.



Dr. Mike urged people to eat more fruits and vegetables, and fewer calories overall, and to avoid supplements, hormones and pills as much as possible.

He also noted the growing body of evidence that getting adequate sleep, eight hours a night, is critical to maintaining good health, and avoiding weight gain.

Read More

10 Things to Know About Melanoma

1. One in 50 Americans will develop a melanoma at some time in their lives.
2. People at high risk are those with fair skin, who have many moles, especially atypical nevi, who have had a first degree relative with melanoma, or have a personal history of the disease, and who have chronic sun exposure either through their work or recreational activities.
3. 88% of melanomas are found by patients or their caregivers, but doctors find melanomas at an earlier, thinner stage. Only one in four people at risk for melanoma have a yearly skin examination.
4. The most common site for melanomas in young men in on the trunk, in young women, it is on the legs. As people age, the most common sites become those that have the most exposure to the sun.
5. You should examine your skin regularly and look for moles that are asymmetric, have irregular borders, have multiple colors within their boundaries, that are larger in diameter than others on your body. Doctors call this looking for the "ugly duckling."
6. The most important thing to be aware of when you examine your skin is any change in the size, color or elevation of any mole.
7. People who have many moles should not rely on either their own memory, or their doctors. They should have Total Body Photography which provides a reliable, pictorial frame of reference to note any changes or the appearance of new moles that might be melanomas.
8. The single best way to reduce your risk of melanoma is to avoid exposure to the sun (and that means tanning booths as well.)
9. After avoiding exposure to the sun, the best ways to protect yourself are with clothing that blocks the ultraviolet rays and with sunscreen, but...
10. To be effective, sunscreen must be labeled “broad spectrum” and have an SPF of 15. (The value of anything over 15 has not been established.) It must also be applied correctly to all exposed body parts and repeated on a regular basis.

Read More

Melanoma Treatment Moves Forward in 2011

Lynn Schuchter, MD, program leader for Penn's Melanoma Research Program says 2011 was the “year of melanoma,” one in which two important new agents were approved by the FDA (the first in over 40 years). It was in 2011, cancer research for melanoma began to make a significant difference for patients with advanced forms of melanoma.

2012 is emerging as a year in which researchers and clinicians are taking these new clinical approaches to the next level.

The two key areas are therapies targeted to specific genetic mutations and immunotherapy.

Dr. Schuchter and other melanoma experts at Penn believe we are only beginning to understand enough about how melanoma cells grow and spread to develop effective new treatments based.

Dr. Schuchter opened this year’s Focus On Melanoma Conference with an update on melanoma treatments and advances in melanoma research. Last year, the introduction of the drug vemuranefenib was the first big piece of news. Vemuranefenib works by inhibiting BRAF gene activity in the approximately 50% of melanoma patients who in whom this gene is "broken." The drug is powerful, producing often dramatic responses in patients with advanced melanoma, but it almost always stops working after a period of six to 18 months. This phenomenon --in which patients respond well to a drug for a period of time only to see the cancer come back or start growing again--is called resistance, and is one of the most perplexing barriers to developing effective, lasting cancer treatments.

Cancer researchers are beginning to understand the amazingly complex mechanisms by which cancer cells become resistant.

In the case of BRAF inhibitors, this occurs when the melanoma cells in essence take a detour--an alternate pathway that allows them to avoid the STOP growing and dividing sign they encounter when BRAF activity is inhibited. The goal now is to combine the original drug, vemuranefenib, with other targeted agents that block these alternative pathways. A major clinical trial in which vemuranefenib is used with a drug known as a MEK inhibitor is showing very promising results, and will be featured at the 2012 meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). This is one of what will be many clinical trials aimed at overcoming the problem of resistance with targeted therapies in malignant melanoma. A surprising, but welcome finding in this trial, is that the combined therapy is not only superior to vemuranefenib alone but the incidence of side effects, especially those related to skin problems, is significantly reduced.

Immunotherapy is the other very promising area in treating melanoma. Researchers have known for a long time that the immune system is active in trying to seek out and destroy melanoma cells—while on the other hand the melanoma cells are effective in hiding from the immune system. New therapies are focused on making melanoma cells more visible and increasing the level of immune activity. Last year's new agent in the immunotherapy arena is known as ipilumubab (ipi). The drug works very well for some patients, often resulting in delayed responses, meaning that in the first several weeks of therapy, the melanoma will actually grow--but then begin to regress and sometimes disappear completely. Ipi also stimulates an auto-immune response that can cause a wide range of side effects, ranging from colitis to endocrine problems to inflammations of the skin and liver.

The current goal for ipi is to understand in advance which patients should receive this drug and when. Right now, ipi is only approved for late stage melanoma patients and for a limited course of therapy. For melanoma patients at high risk of recurrence, researchers are very interested in finding out whether this drug can be effective as additional therapy once primary cancer treatment is completed (know as adjuvant therapy) -- or whether it can be used as maintenance therapy. A big question is whether ipi can be successfully combined with BRAF inhibitors— Currently they are given sequentially.

New insight in the ways in which the immune system interacts with melanoma cells is also opening the door to developing new agents and approaches to immunotherapy. PD-1 is an antibody similar to ipi which has been shown to be very active in early trials--without the autoimmune response. Another technique that is being successfully used to treat leukemias is now on the cusp of being used for melanomas as well. This involves extracting t-cells from the patient, "supercharging" them in the lab and then injecting them back into the patient--another example of an emerging new therapy that is both highly tailored and personalized.

As Dr. Schuchter said in concluding her remarks, "These are not conversations we were having nine years ago when we first started this conference. We have a lot more to do, but these are exciting times."

Watch all of the presentations from the 2012 Focus On Melanoma Conference here. 

Learn more about treatment for melanoma at Penn in Philadelphia.

Read More

Age and Melanoma

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2012 Focus On Melanoma Conference In this blog, she recaps the conference. You can view the conference in its entirety, including presentations here.

We all know that our skin undergoes changes as we age, but does the aging process affect the environment in which melanomas live and grow?

According to research underway at The Wistar Institute, the answer is yes.

Ashani Weeraratna, MD, work focuses on the role of a specific enzyme known as Klotho which functions as a kind of anti-aging molecule. When we are young, we have lots of Klotho, but by the time we reach our 40s, it has almost disappeared from our systems.

Researchers have also found that Klotho is expressed in primary melanomas, but rarely, or in very small amounts in metastatic melanomas.

The presence of Klotho appears to inhibit metastases, while its absence, promotes them in malignant melanomas.

The goal of Dr. Weeraratna's research is to determine if putting Klotho back into a patient's body will help inhibit metastases--with the ultimate hope that this could be developed as a preventive measure.

Watch all of the presentations from the 2012 Focus On Melanoma Conference here. 

Learn more about treatment for melanoma at Penn in Philadelphia.

Read More

When is Less More for Melanoma Surgery

Christine Wilson, cancer survivor, shares her experiences from the Abramson Cancer Center’s 2012 Focus On Melanoma Conference In this blog, she recaps the conference. You can view the conference in its entirety, including presentations here.

Surgery for melanoma has two goals:
1. To remove all of the cancer with a margin of healthy tissue around it, known as wide excision
2. To determine if the melanoma has spread beyond the primary site to the adjacent lymph nodes

For years, the second goal was achieved by a lymph node dissection or total removal of the nodes nearest the melanoma. This procedure often led to short- and long-term problems for patients.

More recently, however, surgeons have begun to use a procedure in which they remove only the one or two lymph nodes closest to the tumor, the ones to which cancer cells are most likely to spread.
They identify these "sentinel" nodes as they are called by using special dyes as tracers. The dyes follow the same drainage paths as the cancer cells. If the cancer has not spread to the sentinel node, the chances are extremely high that it has not spread to any other nodes.

As Penn surgeon, Giorgos Karakousis, MD, noted, it is important to optimize the results for each patient while minimizing any negative consequences of the treatment.

For melanoma patients, this means tailoring the surgery to the individual patient's disease, using a wide range of factors that predict the risk that the cancer will spread. New technology, which is more accurate and sensitive, is also helping doctors to make individual decisions as to what surgery to do for various subsets of patients.

In general, patients with stage I and II disease will have wide excision of the melanoma. The decision as to whether to use the wide excision alone, add SNL or do the complete lymph node dissection depends on the thickness of the melanoma and those other factors such as whether there is evidence of active cell division, mitosis, in the tumor and whether the melanoma is ulcerated or not.

"In the past, we did a lot of complete lymphadenectomy, and many of our patients had problems either from the surgery itself or as a result of lymphedema,” says Dr. Karakousis. “We can avoid those negative outcomes for many of our patients today without compromising their overall treatment."

Dr. Karakousis also pointed to the increasing ability to surgically remove isolated metastases for patients with Stage IV melanomas, an approach that has had positive results for some patients. The decision as to whether or not to attempt to do this kind of surgery should be made by a multidisciplinary team.

Watch all of the presentations from the 2012 Focus On Melanoma Conference here. 

Learn more about treatment for melanoma at Penn in Philadelphia.

Read More